Calico Acres - AU Les Mis
by hoogan
Summary: In this day and age, Enjolras and his "band of merry men" have a slightly different angle in the people they wish to fight for. Best to read Les Petit Amis series first.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is just a re-write to make the story flow better. I have heard from people who have loved my 'Famile du Musain' and some who didn't want it to end. I guess only the 19****th**** Century France version is finished but the possibilities are endless to put them in other places. I'm going to stick with the same first names I gave them but for clarity's sake will use their last names when talking in third person. When needed, Thenardiers and Pontmercys will have the same names so everyone can keep them straight.**

**As ever, the students belong to Victor Hugo, though they're now like my Fisher Price Play People where I take them out of the drawer and play with them every now and again. But I know they're not mine to keep so I put them back. The original characters are figments of my little mind. As ever, they're rated mature for safety but it'll mostly because of the language. I may pair the guys up sometimes in couples but it'll never be porn, just sometimes co-parenting/relationship, maybe even married, who knows?**

"Hi, my name is Eponine." the recruit agent held out her hand to shake that of the more experienced Francis Courfeyrac. He actually remembered her, they had taken a few courses together in university. He went on to be a social worker and she a teacher so they had taken some child psychology classes and workshops. She was very pretty. If he were straight, he may have asked her for a date. Not now, of course, he was meant to take and show her the ropes of the new direction she had moved her life in. It wouldn't have been a good idea to date your rookie.

"Francis...hi." he smiled big. "I remember you from school." he said and got the acknowledgment from her and they went out to his car. "What made you change gears?"

"Seeing the shape of some of the kids that I taught. Some were so neglected and we were supposed to report all cases...and I did but sometimes they just ended up right back in their same situation." she explained.

"And you want to be the one to see them through the cracks and be there to rescue them?" he asked as they got in the car.

"Yeah..." she said. "...too far-fetched?" she winced. Maybe it wasn't good to come into the profession like she wanted to save the world. It was like she had gone into teaching, wanting to make sure every kid would be able to read and write, sit quietly and listen to lessons. She did her best but there were going to be some kids that needed more and her responsibility switched from teaching them to finding someone else who can work more with them.

"Not at all." he said. "It's what we're all in it for. At least you're not a total newbie." he said, clicking his seatbelt shut and pulling out of the parking stall. "You're used to body fluids and hysterical children. You just have to get to know what to do with the parents." he grinned and drove to a strip mall. "Whatcha' drinking?" he asked as they went to the Starbucks kiosk.

"Lime refresher?" she said, warily. She thought they'd be doing something a bit more businesslike when they left the office. She was already a bit startled by how casual the whole thing seemed at the office. True, it wasn't a government office but a private company for when the government failed. Only the office manager was in a suit and she was very down to earth, almost girl-chatted with Eponine until she decided who to pair her up with. Francis was the best bet when it came to a pretty recruit...he was a nice guy, would teach her well and not be interested what was up her skirt. He handed her drink to her and waited for his own.

"We meet with a few others first thing in the morning 'coz we'll be needing to meet up with them through out the day." he said as they went to what LOOKED to be a store in transition. Paper on the windows and signs of "we're renovating" on the doors and not a business name. He had his book and tea and no hands to use his keys so he just kicked at the door frame and smiled into the glass part of the door. "Full hands..." he held everything up and the door opened.

"Where's mine?" the blond man asked, pointing to the tea.

"You can share mine. If you wanted some, you should text me." he said. "This is Eponine, our newbie." he introduced her. "This is Sylvain Enjolras - he's an inspector, like us but a step higher, he has a badge. When you go to do a seizure, he's the one you take with you. Without him, because he's the only actual policeman, you don't have any rights to go in anywhere." he explained, taking his tea back from Enjolras. "This is Yvan Combeferre. He's the doctor we take the kids to. Even if they're healthy when we seize them, we take them there so we can be on record just what condition the kids were received in." he said. "And...where's Grantaire?"

"I...thought you were picking him up." Enjolras said. "When you said 'we'..." he stammered. "Oops." he said, pulling out his phone and starting to text. "Oh...never mind." he looked out the window and saw the familiar dark curly haired man pulling up in his car. Before he HAD the job, he drank so that he could get through school and before that he drank so he could stand his life at home. It hadn't been a good one. It was filthy and dark, scary and because they had money it was hidden from any kind of authority. As a child, he swore he would see that no child grew up like that. By college he knew that he wasn't going to save them all but if he could just make a little bit of difference to someone. He didn't often drive to work because he was usually hungover in the mornings and if someone didn't bring him to work, he may not show up. "He looks like hell, he's supposed to." Enjolras explained about the job of an undercover. "We get a call from a suspicious person, 'Taire goes in and hits their neighbourhood and home to see if he can feel out the surroundings, g'morning 'Taire." he greeted after the said body kicked at the door to be let in as his hands were full. "Ah, y'see? Someone knows how to take care of me." Enjolras grinned when Grantaire surrendered a tea for him as well.

"So...this is kind of where we meet to see what was reported. We stay away from the office in case people see us." Courfeyrac explained to Eponine as they sat down. "We're not exactly secret agents but the less people who know that we're all connected the better. They're used to seeing me and Enjolras together but they don't know about the doctor there...otherwise they could just make sure the kid goes to another doctor." he explained.

"And, Grantaire?" Eponine asked as they got in the car after the briefing. "He's pretty interesting. I can't tell if he's for real or what." she laughed.

"Oh, he's for real." Courfeyrac laughed. "What you see is what you get but he's good at what he does and by the end of the night he's often soused. As long as he doesn't drive."

"Is he married?" she asked. "He'd be quite handsome if he trimmed the hair and shaved..."

"He is that." Courfeyrac smiled as they drove along. "The hair and beard is just part of his costume, he cleans up well, I assure you." he paused but figured he may as well say it and get it on the table. "I'm going out with him." he paused to hear her reaction.

"Him?" Eponine asked, jabbing her thumb back over her shoulder where they had just come from. "He BETTER clean up well!" she almost laughed. She would have to see him 'after hours' to see if he was worthy of this handsome officer she was with. Was she disappointed to hear that? Perhaps the more she got to know him the more she would love him and fill herself with false hopes and then when she found out there was no hope it would kill her so it could be best that she found out straight away. "And Enjolras, he seems pretty hard-ass."

"He is when it's business." Courfeyrac said. "Get him in his back yard or watching a game and he's a different guy."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - BTW, I changed my mind. Grantaire doesn't drink quite as much as in other universes. He's known for it but when on duty he is all business. He does prefer to hitch rides though so that he can act his part on a moment's notice.**

They pulled up in front of the first house Enjolras had given them the address to. As ever, they kept in phone contact in case they needed to investigate the house without permission. It was situations like the first one that got Courfeyrac through the bad ones. The couple were expecting a child from overseas, he was merely doing a walk through to ensure the house was safe and the parents were stable. They showed him pictures and eagerly showed him everything they had for the toddler, including foreign language books and labels. It wasn't an ideal time to get a new puppy too but their intention was good and they weren't breaking any laws. He left his card and said he would come back in a week with an interpreter, bid them good luck and knew that subsequent visits would merely be social calls.

The next was a drop in, not as favourable. Children were watching someone fix a car, dangerously close to the open hood and engine while others were unsupervised around an above ground pool. A knock to the door summoned nobody so he went back around to the guy fixing the car. The cousin of all of the children, he was seventeen and the only semi-adult supervision the kids had. "Have your aunt or uncle call me when they get in." he said, handing him the card. "You can't forget to tell them." he warned and he and Eponine sat in his car awhile, filling out citations and forms. As always happened, the parents showed up shortly. He explained to Eponine that it was a pattern. Once their card was handed out, whoever took the card phoned the parents to come home. " You want to read them the citations?" he asked and she shrugged. "It's just a matter of reading off the list of things we find and you need to know the things to watch for. Let's go." he said and they got back out of his car and followed them to the house. "We noticed a few things going on here..." he said to the father and let Eponine read the citations.

"The kid was fixing the car, he asked no questions when we went around to the back yard..." she said and showed them the pictures of the pool area.

"I told them not to go there." the mother said.

"You need a locking fence around it. Yes it's above ground but kids have drowned in them." she told her.

Courfeyrac measured the middle child against the wall of the pool. "Can you swim, sir?" he asked the little boy who shook his head. "But you were on the ladder to get in." he referred to the small step ladder.

"We'll send someone back tomorrow, you need to have a fence or at least something to show that you plan on putting one up by the weekend. In the meantime, the kids can't be out here without supervision and you..." Eponine told a little girl "...stay away from the water." she looked in the pool

"And you may want to get something to treat that water." Courfeyrac told the mother he could smell it from even a few feet away.

After they got back in the car, he noticed that Eponine was shaking. "You did very well laying down the law." he commended. "You gotta' keep your voice strong...what are you shaking for?" he asked and she shrugged. "You'll stop that soon." he got a text from Enjolras and rather than read it, gave him a phonecall, scribbling down addresses and the like. "Okay..." he said as he pulled away from the curb. "We number the scenarios, the higher the number the worse it gets. The first one we went to doesn't even GET a number." he referred to the anxious parents to be. "The one we just left was maybe a four or five. We're going to a potential seven or eight, maybe higher." he warned her. It was a shitty situation as he explained to her while they drove along. The worst case scenario as this was a government supported foster home. Somehow, the foster parents got through the cracks, managed to get children into their home and didn't stand up to their duties. They were reported by a teacher, the children were filthy and smelly. When the school nurse tried to change their clothes she noticed the bruises and scrapes, rashes and other skin lesions, she called CPS. The two she had in her class were taken immediately. They didn't even go home, they were take to the hospital to be checked out and would be placed in a more reliable foster home but they had said there were more children at the house.

The house was in a depressed area but it didn't look any worse than the ones around it. Good people lived in shabby houses and bad people lived in mansions, in doing this job, they all learned that a shabby house can hold a happy, loving family. However, the reports were in about this one. Courfeyrac and Eponine waited until they saw Enjolras drive up with Grantaire in the passenger's seat. They didn't need him to play the role of the bum, they needed him on the top of his game. None of them looked like CPS officers that was part of it. They didn't want to startle anyone or put them on their guard. Courfeyrac and Eponine approached the door first while Enjolras and Grantaire waited in the car.

"My name is Francis Courfeyrac and I'm with CPS." he said to the young woman who opened the door. "There are some foster children here?" he asked, flipping through pages of a book so she knew that when he asked a question, he was actually just saying that he knew all this.

"They're not home." the woman said. "They went for ice cream with their father...or, the father of this house." she stammered.

"All of them?" Courfeyrac asked. "That's not possible because two of them are in protective custody right now. Where are the others?" he asked then looked over the young woman's shoulder to see someone standing a bit farther back. "Who are you?" he asked the young woman.

"Just the housekeeper." she shrugged.

"How did YOU get kids?" he asked the woman who stood further back. She had been a foster parent before and those ones had been taken away from her and her husband. "Alice Thenardier..." he said. "Is Milton around?" he asked. "Or is he the one who took the kids for ice cream?"

"He's looking for our son." she said. "Gavroche, he didn't come home from school." she began to shed crocodile tears.

"We'll look for him, try to remember what he was wearing the last time you saw him." he gently faked. He knew where Gavroche was. "We're going to talk to the other children you have here."

"There are no others." Alice said.

"If we came in and looked we would find none?" he asked, waving Enjolras from the car. Chances were great that Alice was going to say that they couldn't come in so Enjolras may as well start heading up there now. "No need to call the police." he said when she picked up the phone and threatened to do so "I brought them with me." he said as Enjolras handed over the warrant. They didn't pause at the door or anything, they just walked in. "Something else you're going to get used to." he told Eponine.

"Hi!" Enjolras said when he went into a bedroom and saw a little boy crouched beside the bed. He had been told to hide beside the bed but had chosen the exposed side. Either that or he just wanted to be found, which was entirely possible. "My name is Sylvain, what's yours?" he asked, going in and helping the little boy off the floor. It was to nobody's surprise that he said he was itchy. Children who lived in dirty houses often had skin irritations and rashes. "Let's see." he sat him on the bed and looked at his legs, mottled red and white. "Have you been sick?" he felt his forehead, perhaps he was walking into a room of measles. The little boy shook his head. "Is that your sister?" he asked as he saw Eponine leading a little girl through the hallway. "What's her name?"

"Minette." he said. "I have to take care of her. I can't let her go." he said, getting off of the bed.

"We won't separate you two." Enjolras promised. "We're going to take you away from here though and find someone else to put you with, is that okay?" he asked and the boy nodded. As he headed to the door, he picked up a toy. "You want to take only that one?" Enjolras asked and grabbed a pillow case. "Pick some more." he said as the little boy dumped all of his lego into the pillow case. "What about your sister?" he asked but saw that Courfeyrac had instructed Eponine to do the same as he continued to open doors and closets where they were known to hide children.

Grantaire came up from downstairs with a toddler who was actually having a good time playing with the flashlight until they got upstairs where it was light and the beam of the flashlight disappeared. He sat the toddler (they had no idea if it was a boy or a girl yet) on the couch next to Minette and to where Enjolras was herding the little boy he'd found.

"Who the hell gave them all these children?" Eponine asked Courfeyrac.

"Chances are, some are their own. Gavroche, one of the boys from school and who knows which others. Otherwise, this is known as slipping between the cracks or they belong to friends." he nodded as Alice protested that two of them were just spending the week with them. "Yes, that's why they have their own bedrooms."

"What's behind this door?"Grantaire asked, pointing to a door with a couch pulled in front of it.

"Closet, we don't use it." Alice said but it was useless of her to protest as they were already moving the couch to the side.

"What the..." Grantaire said as he opened the door. It was a walk-in closet, there was a light socket in the ceiling but no light bulb in it. The thing that made it obvious that it was inhabited was the smell. "Eponine!" he waved her over and handed her the flashlight. "Keep this shining on here." he said and bent to pick the child up, assuring it that everything was okay. Eponine watched him change from the gross pseudo-drunk to professional CPS agent. "Oh you ARE a little thing..." he pulled a very filthy little one out of the closet. Her hair was black and curly so it matted and they didn't even know if it was a boy or girl. "Who is this?" he asked the three on the couch and pointed to the child he held.

"Sylvie." Minette said. "She's not supposed to come out of there though, she's kind of strange." she made the 'mental' sign with her finger at her temple. Luckily, nobody was there who was going to challenge a child for saying something like that. It was obviously what they were being taught and whether or not little Sylvie was strange BEFORE she lived in a dark closet would be for Dr. Combeferre to decide. Grantaire felt the little girl's skin. He wasn't a doctor but they all knew what to watch for and he could tell this little one didn't have a lot of time. They had Eponine video tape the recovery of the little girl. Grantaire kept her in his arms and Enjolras went to her, picked her arm up and it fell limp. He tickled the bottom of her feet and got no reaction. Speaking to her was useless and it was time to get those kids rounded up and taken to the hospital.

"Courf!" Enjolras shouted down the stairs for his co-worker to come back upstairs then headed out to his car where he would take the brother and sister set.

"Where the hell did you get THAT?" Enjolras asked as Courfeyrac came outside carrying a 7 month old baby.

"Another bedroom." Courfeyrac sighed, popping open his trunk to get a baby seat as though it were the most normal thing in the world. "You know how to install one of these?" he asked Eponine. "You'll need to learn." he passed the baby to her so he could get the seat installed. "Oh my God." he looked to see the filth encrusted girl from the closet. She looked even worse in daylight. "What did they do to you, sweet thing?" he asked as Grantaire put a blanket on the seat of the car and sat the girl there, clicking the seatbelt and they started towards the hospital.

Grantaire rode in the back passenger's seat, holding up little Sylvie and stroking her sticky hair, trying to get the baby's name or even find out if it was a boy or girl.

"Boy" Eponine said. "I had to put a diaper on him."

"If we don't know his name, we get to name him until we find out. Yvan doesn't like nameless kids." Courfeyrac told her.

"I don't know." Eponine said, almost embarrassed. "What if it becomes the little boy's name for life?"

"Then name him well." Grantaire said but Eponine didn't get a name out before they pulled to the hospital.

"Oh my God." the attending nurse said when she saw the two from Courfeyrac's car. She took the baby boy at once for rehydration and tried to take Sylvie from Grantaire's arms but she fussed.

"This is the first sign of life she has shown." Grantaire said and they went into the case room. She was too weak to even lift her arm earlier."

Courfeyrac introduced the Pontmercys to Eponine, they already had a very scrubbed and cleaned up Gavroche sitting with them. He was wary but content, sipping a meal replacement milkshake. "They're just checking Daphne now."

Enjolras looked into the rear view mirror at the three children clinging together. "We have a great place to take you for awhile." he promised. "They're friends of mine so I know it's nice." he thought about Pontmercys. They never wanted children of their own but gladly accepted overnighters or for a few weeks. It was a safe and loving house and they would meet them at the hospital with a minivan. "They'll meet us at the hospital after you see the doctor. They're waiting for a little boy who loves french fries...you like french fries, don't you?" he asked the boy with blond curly hair. He knew that Marius and Cosette always had a bar be cue when they got new kids. Burgers and fries were always on the menu. "And...a girl who likes root beer floats, right?" he asked and the little girl grinned. "Okay, Minette and I are old friends..." he said as he drove along. "Who else do I have with me? Minette, what's your brother's name?"

"Nicolas." she said. "And this is Keri." she pointed to the other girl.

"Okay, when we get to the hospital, the doctor is going to see all of you, especially your rash Nicolas. He'll give you some cream to put on it so it won't sting so bad." he chatted until they got to the hospital. He picked Keri out of her booster seat while the other two undid their own straps and Enjolras herded the three kids in there to meet with everyone else.

Combeferre took all the kids in the exam room at the same time. It kept them relaxed and they would listen to the chatter between them, often they opened up to each other before the doctor. He whistled when he saw Nico's legs. "Whoah, dude!" he checked the crooks of his elbows and behind his ears, where eczema tended to develop but there was nothing. "This is bad, you don't get it anywhere else?" he asked. "How far up does it go? To your bum?" he asked and Nicolas nodded. "We'll get something to make that feel better but we're going to give you a bath, does it itch or just sting?"

"It stings when I pee my pants." Nicolas said. "And my bed."

"They'll help you with that, too." Combeferre smiled and lifted him down so the nurse could take him to the baths. Minette and Keri were fairly healthy, just dirty and then he went into another room where they had Sylvie and the baby on IVs. "Oh my goodness." he whispered. "You found a new friend?" he grinned at Grantaire.

"Why do they do shit like that?" Eponine asked as they waited in the visitor's lounge. "Why would they take a foster child then..." her voice broke and she buried her face in her hands. She took a deep breath when she felt a hand on her shoulder and smiled at the pretty blond lady beside her.

"I know." Cosette said. "We're going to take the five of them home tonight." she said. "So they'll all sleep well and happy."

"How long do you keep them for?" Eponine asked her. "I'm new to this."

"We've kept them as briefly as overnight and as long as five or six months." she answered.

Eponine wondered how they did that. Have kids for five months then just let them go when they got adopted. She guessed, when you get children and know right off the bat that they're only on loan, it wouldn't be as hard to let them go. She could tell when she looked at the foster parents that the children WOULD be in good hands. They looked responsible and wholesome and while Eponine knew that monsters lived behind faces and personae like that, she had faith on the others who called on them.

The baby and little Sylvie would be kept in the hospital for at least overnight. "Ponine." Courfeyrac said to her. "You still have to name that little one."

Eponine bounced a few names around in her head. "Joseph?" she said. "I just like Joe."

"Joe." Combeferre said and filled in the chart with the name.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Being as Enjolras is taken, the boss of the agency is going to be called Ramin. If you don't know the connection, just google Ramin Les Mis.**

"Now it's time for summary and wrap up." Grantaire told Eponine as their day ended with leaving the children in the capable hands of Dr. Combeferre and the Pontmercys. "You have a bathing suit?" he asked.

"A WHAT?" Eponine asked, wondering just where the hell the summarising happened. "No, I didn't think I would need to bring it with me." she shrugged.

"We can stop at a store or make one out of bits and pieces out there." Courfeyrac said and started the car as Grantaire jumped in the back seat. He would ride there with them and Combeferre would bring his car home for him rather than catching a ride with Enjolras.

"What kind of living arrangements do you guys have?" Eponine asked. "And am I going to get back home tonight?" she asked.

"Sure we'll bring you back." Grantaire laughed. "Someone will, not me."

They gave Eponine some more lessons as they headed out of town to some lush green rolling hills dotted with farms and acreages. "Was that as bad as it gets?" she asked about the Thenardier's house.

"Pretty close." Courfeyrac nodded. He was ready to answer her about what kind of living arrangements they had when he pulled the car over.

"Oh, here we go." Grantaire said. "Sometimes he gets a bit overwhelmed by the whole experience." he explained as they politely ignored Courfeyrac getting sick in the ditch.

"I guess it's pretty bad if it affects one of you like this." Eponine said.

"Oh don't be surprised if it's ever you." Grantaire said. A day of stress could set any of them off, it just happened to be Courfeyrac's turn. Grantaire handed Courfeyrac a bottle of water for him to rinse his mouth out then rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry 'bout that." he said when he got back in the driver's seat.

"Sounds like it happens from time to time." Eponine shrugged.

"First time with someone else in the car." he mumbled and as he continued to drive, Eponine wondered where they were going. It got more and more beautiful as they drove. She hadn't grown up in the most ideal of situations herself and had rarely gone out of town. The colour and lushness made her think of a calendar page. Every farmhouse and acreage they passed made her sad that they hadn't turned in to that lane. They got to the top of a valley and she looked down onto...what could only be described as Shangri-la and Courfeyrac steered towards a spot of land with a fairly large cedar house and a smaller one down the path a bit. Obviously one had been the original house before the monster one was built. Seeing Enjolras' car in the driveway, Courfeyrac leaned on the horn.

"Means the day is over." Grantaire explained to Eponine and they parked to the side of the house.

Eponine could already smell bar-be-cue when they went to the front door and she became very hungry very quickly. "Is this Enjolras' house?" she looked around, surprised.

"It's everyone's house." Grantaire said and opened a beer the moment he got in the door, downing it before Eponine knew it and opened another. How was it that Courfeyrac could stand getting close to this guy with the grubby clothes and unkempt appearance? The only thing missing was the stench that should be coming from him and it surprised her that the air around him was breathable. She knew that was part of a costume but he still didn't seem to be much of a catch. Courfeyrac could do so much better. "Welcome, Eponine, to Calico Acres."

Eponine looked out the sliding glass doors onto the gorgeous countryside and closer, out on the deck. If she lived there she would have her morning coffee out there every day before even heading to work. Why would they bother with Starbucks?

She saw a little red car pulling up to the house and a lady, about her age with long red hair got out before Combeferre and his sister Danielle. More? "They live next door." Grantaire told her.

"Who is the other lady?" she asked.

"Amy. She's the dispatch voice you hear." Courfeyrac said as he took his second armload of stuff to the tables outside to where Enjolras was cooking. "Comfy, 'Taire?" he asked and Eponine jumped up to help. "Not you...but if you wish, can you mix up whatever drink powder you find in there? Hopefully we still have ice."

"I gotta' make myself pretty." Grantaire said and vanished.

"Anyway..." Courfeyrac said "...Amy..."

"Shut UP, Courfeyrac." Enjolras said from the grill.

"What?" Eponine asked, smiling, she knew what was coming.

"Got it bad." Courfeyrac gave his famous big smile and nodded towards Enjolras.

"Awww, and why not?" Eponine said, already comfortable enough to tease the blond man.

"Ain't gonna' happen." Enjolras said.

"She's got it for Combeferre, too." Courfeyrac said. "I still think you guys should say you're a couple, it makes things so much easier."

"Don't think we haven't thought about it." Enjolras said and Eponine wondered. A houseful of men...were they all gay?

"I think you should act like you're trying to keep it secret...but...poorly." Courfeyrac said, hollering at Grantaire to hurry up as he saw the others heading across the yard with other things for supper.

Once Amy got close enough, Eponine recognised her voice and nodded when she was introduced. "Oh, you're the new girl, how did it go today?" she asked.

"Fine, a lot to take in, parts of it not very pleasant." she said.

"Like Francis blowing chunks all over the countryside?" Grantaire asked as he came back to the table looking presentably better, shaven and his hair combed, now in a striped t-shirt and board shorts.

"I didn't blow them all over the countryside, I'm very tidy..." Courfeyrac protested.

"Must we?" Amy asked, almost ready to abandon her freshly filled plate. Enjolras would have spoken up too but he didn't want her to think they had anything in common. He WAS just one of the guys, he just didn't happen to like girls OR guys, no matter how much someone promised they'd sway his mind. But puke talk at the table was over his limit, too.

"Better?" Grantaire asked, taking Courfeyrac's hand and running it over his non-stubbly chin.

"Always." Courfeyrac said. "Now I won't feel like I'm kissing a hedgehog."

The chatter at the table was of music and movies, vacations, people they knew, families and...everything but work. Grantaire was on his fourth beer by the time it was finished.

"D'ja bring a swimsuit, Pony?" he asked.

"We already asked that, 'Taire." Courfeyrac said. "I actually just bought some new board shorts so they haven't been worn. I can lend you a t-shirt..." he offered. They had a fair sized above ground pool but it hadn't been filled yet for the summer. They did, however have a hot tub. Maybe that's where the summarising would take place. Amy had been quiet but they were right, she made no secret that she was forever trying to attract Enjolras and her habit of calling everyone 'dear' and 'hon' was annoying. She made many references to her new bathing suit that wasn't meant for swimming, just sitting. "You can't expect her to wear board shorts, even for the hot tub." she told Courfeyrac then turned to Eponine "Guys just don't understand, do they?"

"I can do that." Eponine said to Courfeyrac "Thank you." She would rather be there in board shorts and a t-shirt than an actual bathing suit. Suddenly, everything Amy was and liked, Eponine wanted to be and like the opposite. She did like Danielle but Danielle had a date and basically sucked back her dinner as she waited for her boyfriend to show up.

Eponine recognised Danielle's boyfriend when he came through the door as the director of the agency, her boss Ramin. He had been in a suit at work but now he was just in a dark blue shirt and jeans. He sat down at the table and dished himself some food. Again, the conversation had nothing to do with work.

Amy didn't do too poorly in the flirting with HIM either. In fact the only one she hadn't flirted with was Grantaire. She knew she had no chance with Courfeyrac but tried it anyway, perhaps to make it less obvious her infatuation with Enjolras.

"Where you guys going tonight?" Combeferre asked. "JUST curious!" he said when everyone grinned the joked around "when will you be back...whatcha gonna do...gonna be home tonight?"

"Ummmm..." Ramin thought about the order of the questions... "The comedy festival, we'll be home sometime after the festival, we're going to watch the comics and then go for a drink, or maybe dessert, or maybe a walk, or maybe a drink AND a walk..." he carried on. "We won't be too late" he explained then I'll take Eponine home. "Bye big brother, don't wait up." he kissed Combeferre's temple.

"Stop it!" Combeferre said.

Eponine decided this was definitely a perk to this job. Unfortunate it was that she lived in town so wouldn't get out much but Ramin lived in town, too so there was at least one more chance to be able to get out there more often.

"In here, Pony." Grantaire said and showed her the bathroom to change in as the rest put the dishes in the dishwasher. Eponine opened her mouth to protest the nickname until Amy did...then Eponine shut her mouth. There was a friendliness in the way Grantaire said it. It wasn't condescending and she could tell that if she asked him to stop, he would.

"I'm sure she doesn't want to be called that." Amy bossed. She was getting jealous of the new girl who was one of the guys.

"It's okay." she emerged from the bathroom in Courfeyrac's board shorts and black t-shirt. "does anyone have an elastic?" she asked and Enjolras handed her one of the clips that Danielle used in the hot tub. "Good God it's like you were expecting me.." she laughed.

"Leave these out here and then you don't have to worry about a suit when you come out." Courfeyrac said and clicked open the patio door to the hot tub. Enjolras grabbed beer from the fridge and they all went out.

"No thanks." she said when offered a beer. "I don't know how you guys can drink that stuff." she couldn't stand it.

"See?" Amy said? "I told you it's foul!" she said. At last she found something to bond the two and she handed Eponine a peach cider.

There was a universal sigh as everyone got into the hot tub and took their seat. Again, there was no talk of work. So, "summarising" was a tongue in cheek term for these guys? Ignoring what had gone on? Or, at least shutting it out of their minds?

They chatted and goofed around until the sun set and the automatic timer turned on the patio lights. Grantaire's snoring sounded, making them all laugh as his head was tipped back against the edge of the tub. Courfeyrac circled his hand over Grantaire's face like a kingfisher waiting to dive bomb. Finally he zoomed down and pinched his nose so he sputtered and sat up again but soon he dozed off again.

"How do you sleep with that beside you?" Enjolras asked. One thing Amy didn't like to be was reminded that they were a couple.

"At least I know he's sleeping well. When he's stressed he doesn't snore." Courfeyrac shrugged.

"Does he snore when he's not drunk?" Eponine asked and Courfeyrac shook his head.

"He doesn't sleep well, either." he said and plugged Grantaire's nose one more time to wake him up. "Think it's bedtime." he told him and pushed him so he could stand. ""Need a hand?" He asked as Grantaire, wobbly with beer and from sitting in zero gravity managed to step out of the tub.

"See you tomorrow, Grantaire!" Eponine shouted as he stumbled to bed.

"Night, Pony." he said.

"Is he going to make it?" Amy asked, watching Grantaire go to the bedroom. "He just tracked water through the kitchen." Courfeyrac jumped out of the tub for a second to follow him. Not only to get towels for the water but to make sure he didn't get into bed in his wet shorts. He took a towel into the bedroom and got him dried off and tucked in to bed. On his way back to the tub, Ramin and Danielle came through the door.

"Oh God, I'm not nearly ready to head home." Eponine said.

"It's okay." Ramin said. "I'm going to see Danielle to the house." he gestured towards the smaller house that the others lived in. "It's not even late yet." he said as Danielle said her good-nights to everyone then they left.

"I guess I should be ready for when he comes back." Eponine said and got out of the tub and grabbed a towel. She took a quick shower and got dressed in the bathroom as everyone followed suit. "This has been an awesome evening." she said, leaving the hair clip on the counter where they found it.

"Pretty good initiation hey?" Enjolras commented, finger-drying his yellow curls when he came out of his room in pyjama pants.

"Can't say I've had any better." she had to admit, then Ramin came into the house again.

"Did you ask her?" he asked the guys.


	4. Chapter 4

Flashback to about 8 months prior

In the autumn days, the year before, Ramin hosted a bar-be-que out in the country

and had a serious talk with the people who now lived there. "We're out of good homes." he told them "Kids need reliable safehomes and the only way it seems we can be assured is to build the places ourselves. Many government agents, after their day of work either go home to their own kids or live the party life. What would you all think of living here?" he said referring to the big house that was just built "...and there..." he pointed to the smaller house "...and keeping some of the kids here?"

He gave them all something to think about. He relied on them because of their records. Yes, Grantaire liked his drink, he knew that but when the kids were involved he stayed sober. They had all avoided a drug lifestyle since their college days and were more or less self-admitted only thing was...at that time they didn't really know each other. It was then that Ramin had them work closely, another sign that they were compatible. It worked out well in many ways. Working with Courfeyrac got Grantaire over his infatuation with his friend Enjolras. Courfeyrac, visually was totally unlike Enjolras. Rather than 'beautiful', he was adorable and what was best was the return of affection he was getting. It wasn't long before they were dating and basically considered themselves an official "couple". Nobody was happier than Enjolras. He hated to see Grantaire lonely but he couldn't return the love that way. He wasn't interested in guys...or girls. He was interested in his job and just relaxing at the end of the day though he quite often did paperwork into the night. Combeferre was often distressed at what he was seeing at the hospital and needed to move farther away so nobody could call him in an hour after he finished a 24 hour shift.

"So..." he looked at Amy and Danielle "...you two, too..."

"I'm not a cleaning lady..." Danielle defended.

"No, not a cleaning lady." Ramin smiled at her. "We'll need someone medically qualified at all times here. You or your brother and we'll have Dr. Joly ON CALL..." he spoke over Combeferre's protests.

"What am I doing?" Amy asked.

"You are the cleaning lady." Courfeyrac laughed.

"Some of the kids are scared of men." Ramin explained, grinning at Courfeyrac. "You're great with the kids and I want you away from the city." he said. Everyone was aware of the abusive relationship she had just gotten out of. In spite of her being a nuisance, nobody wanted her hurt, so everywhere she went she took an agent with her. She was frightened and skittish, this would be good.

"Would I still work in the city?" she asked.

"Of course!" Ramin said. "Nobody is being fired." he relaxed them. "So, the houses are yours. I thought the doctors should have the smaller one in case someone is sick but also that it's a quieter one so they can get some sleep. We're not moving any kids here 'til the spring so you can all see how you get along.

"Okay..." Amy said. "...but I want to live in the different house from those guys..." she said about Courfeyrac and Grantaire. "...I don't need to hear them having sex." That pretty much floored them all. They knew she didn't "approve" but sometimes things came out of her mouth very clumsily.

"I don't want to hear you having sex either." Grantaire said to Amy.

"I won't be bringing anyone home." she pointed out.

"Alright." Ramin said. "That being said...remember I'm not making anyone stay out here." he looked at Amy. "It's an opportunity and an offer and there's really no need to go into someone's personal life. I'm not even going to TOUCH on the last part of that argument." he told her. "Kind of offended on behalf of them and embarrassed on behalf of you. If it bothers you then either don't take the offer or keep it to yourself. I haven't noticed them being inappropriate anywhere."

"You're asking me to move out of my bedroom nooisy apartment into there?" Enjolras asked, pointing at the big house. "Can I have that room?" he pointed to the window that had its own balcony.

"Sure." Ramin shrugged. "There's another bedroom up there for a kid. The kid in there will be yours though." he told him, before he got any idea of shutting himself in there for peace and quiet. "You guys...sharing or...?" he didn't know where Grantaire and Courfeyrac were with their relationship. "You get the jacuzzi room and ensuite. Two bedrooms across the hall for kids. And there are two rooms in the basement, whoever is down there, I want to hire another girl, gets their own sitting room, bathroom and because the sitting room is there, that's where we'll put the home theatre system." he pointed out. "Best of all...none of you will be on call. You'll still work shifts but we're not going to call you out of the blue. Your days off - which will be weekends will be guaranteed." he added that as a hell of a perk. No more being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night - especially Combeferre appreciated THAT one. No more last minute cancellation of plans because some clients weren't co-operating or they had to go 100 miles out of town for a seize. And to live in this "Utopia".

It wasn't just the six of them out there. Ramin had invited a dozen because he knew there were some who wouldn't take it but by the end of it, he was happy with the six who had decided to stay. After they were all divied up between the two houses, there was one bedroom left unclaimed because he hadn't thought about Courfeyrac and Grantaire sharing a room. They would fill the basement room eventually. Amy could have taken it but Enjolras pushed hard to get her to stay in the other house. Amy hated noise after a day's work so the small house would do her better...for now. After the children arrived, there would BE no quieter house but by then there would be someone downstairs.

Present Day

Eponine looked around at the people who had given her such a joyful evening and then back at the director.

"It's not always this fun..." Enjolras warned. It can be boring and we DO some work here in the evenings but it's telecommuting and you tack it on to your vacation time.

"Join usssss..." Combeferre hissed like some wierd cult recruiting members. Eponine laughed. Her only reservation was that she had just started the job and was attributing this feeling of repulsion in what she had just seen that day to the fact that she was new. What if she never got over that and had to quit? She voiced that. Ramin offered her to try field work for three or six months. If it didn't work out there were many other things she could do. She could even be permanently at the house as den mother and do records and stuff. Amy got a bit worried about her job until she heard Ramin say that Amy would work dispatch and at the office and Eponine could do the extras that Amy didn't have time for. He knew that Amy was going to be a bit put out so he made it sound like Eponine would be the secretary's secretary. Last question she had was 'why me?' She tried not to sound disrespectful though.

"You obviously love kids, I read your resume and phoned the school. You've dealt with kids from this type of situation and sounds like you were pretty good at getting them to talk when they didn't want to." Ramin said. Actually, they all were, it was why he chose those ones. "And..." he pulled out his trump card. "We'll subsidize continuing classes for occupational therapy for kids." he offered. The branch manager had spilled just about everything she had gathered from Eponine in her interview.

Eponine's jaw dropped. She could have kissed him, it was her dream job. She wanted to do this all her life but classes were expensive and there was nothing wrong with teaching and she could use natural skills in the classroom. "Where's my room?" she asked and everyone smiled. She couldn't help let a tear slide down her cheek.

"What's wrong?" Ramin asked.

"Oh God if you could see where I came from..." she said.

"We have detectives you know." he nodded. "So you move out here now and be sure these guys are easy to live with because we don't want to move kids into a house of tension..." he said. "Only deal is that if you can't play nice, you don''t lose your job but you have to move out of the house." The deal was sealed, it had gotten late and they had to get back to town.

"You know, don't you?" she said in the car as they were driving back to town. He knew about her shitty father and that she rented a room at the boarding house because all of her money went to school. Worst of all, he knew that she did what she had to in order to pay rent, food and clothing while she was in university.

"Everyone has shit in their past, Eponine." Her boss said as he drove. "You could have very easily turned out like some of the mothers you saw today. You didn't, you just had to do anything to survive." he pointed out. If she didn't know he was in a committed relationship, she could have fallen in love with him right then and there. "Well, now you don't have to go quite that far."

"Do they know?" she asked, pointing back towards the acreage.

"Of course not." he said. "Oh..." he said. "By the way, do NOT share info with Amy." He said. "Nice girl, I'd do anything for her...professionally that is." he said. "But kind of loose lipped."

She didn't even want to take him where she lived but she had to let him drop her off and even asked him to walk her to the door, past the vermin who walked up and down the sidewalks and even sat on the stairs they climbed. Looking at her, nobody would suspect that this was a step UP from where she had been raised. "Pack up tonight and someone with a truck can move your stuff out tomorrow." he said.

"Won't take a truck." she said. "A little red wagon would do it!" Basically all she had was clothes. She would even leave the bedding there. "Can I hug you?" she asked, not knowing if it was appropriate.

"NEVER say 'no' to a hug." he said as she thew her arms around him. He gave her back a rub. "Everything is going to be okay, Eponine." he said. "See that building over there?" he pointed to a run-down apartment. "I grew up there. Until I got this job, my parents still lived there." he admitted. No wonder he understood.

After Ramin left, Eponine got into her apartment and held her face in her hands. She wanted to scream with excitement but she had nobody to scream with. She wanted to tell someone, there was no one to tell so she just had to contend with standing with her hands over her face and tears pouring out of her eyes. She sat and tried to think just what she did to get this chance. How was it that all these people these ... 'nice' people were together in one place? Oh, right, Ramin explained it, there were dozens of people, these were just the 'survivors'. She felt like these people were going to be her new best friends...Courfeyrac with his twinkly eyes, messy hair and huge grin, the gentle doctor Combeferre and his sister, Enjolras she hadn't figured out yet and she even liked being called Pony by Grantaire but hoped it wouldn't spread. She'd like it to just be his nickname for her. Amy may take awhile to get to know, she seemed pretty bitchy sometimes but she would heed Ramin's warning about not telling her anything she didn't want anyone to know. If there was to be any kind of girl-bonding it should be with Danielle but she'd be cautious for the first while.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I messed up when posting part 4 so if you think you read part 4 before July 30, go back and read it again.**

"So, Ramin says you're up to the task." Courfeyrac texted Eponine the next morning. "I have a van, do you want me to pick you and your stuff up?" Eponine thought about that. He would see where she lives if he came over. LIVED! He would see where she lived no longer and obviously she would save the knowledge that Ramin grew up there.

"Yes please!" she texted him the address and put the last of her things together.

Courfeyrac drove without prejudice to the area. He knew it well, he had done plenty of work there. He also knew there were good people and he pulled up to the curb in front of the apartment. "Can you watch that?" he asked some kids. "I'll pay you when I come back." he told them. There was no sense in paying them before, they would only run away with the money. Eponine's stuff was in the hallway and he grabbed two bags while she followed with two wheeled suitcases and took them in the elevator. "Glad you accepted." he said as they headed to the van and he handed the kids some money. "We all are."

"Tell me about Enjolras." she said as they drove to work at the strip mall. "He's obviously not interested in Amy." she said.

"Not interested in you either." Courfeyrac said, not harshly but just in case she had any ideas of pursuing.

"No, I didn't mean that." She grinned. Given a chance and time, it would have probably ben possible for her to fall in love with any of them but she wasn't looking to hook up with any co-worker. Besides, if it were going to be any of them it would be the man beside her and it wasn't possible for a few reasons...but she still thought he could do better than Grantaire.

"Enjolras is interested in his job and well...that's his partner. When he was in the academy he was probably immersed into that, before that, school."

"What did he go to school for?"

"Law."

"He was going to be a lawyer? I guess I could see that."

"He is a lawyer." Courfeyrac said. "He said it's boring. But he does go to bat for clients and such. The best word for him is 'driven'." he summed up Enjolras as he drove.

"And you?" Eponine asked. "What's the best word for you?"

"Right now...hungry." he said and pulled into the drive-through for breakfast sandwiches. They bought for everyone and had to stop and swap the van for Courfeyrac's car again. The agency seemed to own any number of vehicles and they were always dropping something off and picking another one up. "Combeferre'll bring your stuff out when he comes home." he told her and they went in.

Eponine said her good mornings and looked at Grantaire. Did he sleep in his clothes? No, she knew he didn't because Courfeyrac undressed him...not that he was wearing a lot when he went to bed and she had no idea what he slept in but it wasn't likely to be the clothes he was wearing.

"How are the kids?" Grantaire asked.

"Ours?" Enjolras asked. "I called Marius, he said they're well and the two little ones will be released today."

"Those are our kids?" Eponine asked. "Those ones we took yesterday? Was it yesterday?" she asked. So much had happened in twenty four hours that she had even lost track of how long she had been on the job. Not a day before it, she was having a lime refresher and being introduced as the new kid on the block and here she was with her room-mates talking about children that they were going to be taking home. The baby was very small, he would need full time medical care for awhile and she wondered if she was expected to do this because she was the one who had named him. Before she could ask that, Courfeyrac said that Pontmercys were going to keep little Keri with them and the others would be going out to Calico Acres.

"So..today we're going to pick them up and take them home. No field work." Enjolras said. "One of the child psychologist experts will join us out there tonight. Nice guy, Jean Prouvaire and he'll help everyone settle in because the kids will probably come with quirks and foibles." They sat and ate their breakfast, talked about the kids and the pressing question...who got which kid. They joked that Enjolras should have the little boy with the blond curls who looked like him. "I don't know about any of you but I don't want to have to choose one." he said and held up envelopes, holding them out for everyone to take one. "Take, read and tell us about your kid." he said. To his surprise, the little blond curly haired boy's face stared out at him from the paper. "I guess it's meant to be." he turned the page around and told them about Nicolas. He preferred Nico to any other name. He was five and had a twin sister. Enjolras grinned at Eponine who kissed her envelope before opening it. She had no idea whose face would be there but she loved the child already.

"Ah! That's Nico's sister." she said. "Her name is Helene but she likes go to by Minette. Obviously, she's five and loves...BEDTIME!" she was surprised by that. She hoped that Minette didn't mind sleeping in the basement. It was well lit, carpeted, had a TV and all the scary furnace and noisy water tanks were tucked away so it wasn't really like a basement at all but they didn't know if she was used to being away from her brother. "How'd you do, Grantaire?" she asked as he was fanning his face with his paper. It would appear for all the world like he was NOT into this but he was one of the first to say that he would join the project. Laid back and slow was just his nature but he wasn't sure if he was getting the right kid. He was thinking more that he'd have a little boy and do guy things with him. Instead, the little dark-haired girl with beady black eyes stared from the paper.

"Sylvie." he said. "She's four, profoundly deaf, needs hearing aids in both ears. "That's all they know about her." he thought of the challenge ahead. He looked over at Courfeyrac who had his envelope open and smiled. He was the one he wanted from the beginning.

"Gavroche." he held up the picture of the cheeky looking blond boy. "He's six..." his voice dropped off. Every bio had more on it than what they had read and after the initial intros and assumption that Combeferre then would have the dark haired Daphne, everyone lapsed into their own reading. Their faces were serious and pained, they couldn't even talk about what they were reading and it would take awhile to sink into their own heads. ""Well..." Courfeyrac sighed, a bit shakey. "I guess we have some shopping to do."

Enjolras and Eponine had gone to the hospital to pick up Sylvie and Joseph then met Grantaire and Courfeyrac at the Pontmercy's foster home. Enjolras grinned as Eponine talked to the baby as he carried Sylvie out to the car. The little girl stroked his blond curls and kissed his cheek, hugged around his neck and repeated the process. She had a white bandage wrapped around her arm that covered and IV plug and Enjolras carried a bag with two more treatments in it but the little girl couldn't have cared any less. She was so starved for contact that she took every advantage, lest it be pulled out from underneath her. She kissed his cheek again and held her face right up to the side of his face, he wasn't sure if she was sniffing him or just feeling warmth. He knew she couldn't hear so she wouldn't be trying to hear him. "Okay, you have to have to sit in your own seat now." he told her and put her in the booster seat, wrapping the seatbelt around her. She pointed up to the video screen.

"Oooooh!" she said, wide eyed and Enjolras laughed and echoed the sound she probably didn't know she made. "I'll turn it on..." he gave her soft black curls a kiss while Eponine snapped the baby into his seat. He had an IV in his little arm and the bag hung from the coat hanger beside the door. There was pretty much just enough time to watch half of a cartoon before they got to Marius and Cosette's but it took those extra minutes to get the baby out of the seat, so Sylvie got to watch the whole thing, obviously she had never seen one before.

"Wow!" Eponine said when they pulled up. "Why on earth wouldn't they keep kids here?" it was beautiful, an entire playground in the back yard and Marius was playing football with the boys and Daphne in the front yard.

"Francis, they're kicking my ass!" Marius shouted and Courfeyrac jumped into the game. It was easy and gradual bonding with Gavroche. As if to match personalities, Nico broke from the game and went into the house with everyone else. He sat in the living room as conversations with Cosette's father were topical...until they got into politics and then everyone deserted Enjolras and Jean and went into the kitchen. "Thank God they're on the same side." Cosette sighed as she and Eponine got some lunch together and Combeferre came into the house, sitting at the table with Grantaire.

"G'morning, George..." he rubbed his head. "Day getting a bit too long for you?" he grinned, knowing the dark haired man was hungover and wouldn't mind some hair of the dog. But they also knew that starting today, the booze would be saved until evenings.

"I was hoping for the baby..." Eponine shrugged. "But that's the last time I'll say that." She didn't ever want Minette to think she was sloppy seconds. "He needs watching for awhile, doesn't he?"

'Amy is taking the baby." Cosette said and all conversation stopped and they stared at her. "I mean, not Amy, DANIELLE. Sorry, Yvan." she said to the doctor for mixing his sister and the dispatcher up.

"Not to mention Ramin would have a heart attack." Combeferre said as Marius and Courfeyrac came in with the children to wash their hands before sitting at the table. He knew that Danielle and Ramin had been wanting children for a few years now. They didn't bother going for fertility tests because they knew that with their well paying jobs and clean records, they would have no problem adopting at least one seized child without even being married. Ramin kept his apartment in town for anyone who would be working back to back shifts or who needed somewhere to go and relax between assignments. He said that tongue in cheek, he knew the couch or bed would be used regularly by Grantaire.

"And I don't want to hear you guys having sex!" Courfeyrac impersonated Amy when Ramin said he was going to be moving to the acreage.

"Ewwwwww..." Combeferre held his hands over his ears. "...Courf, that's my sister!"

"We'll try to keep it down." Ramin laughed.

"YOU GUYS!" Combeferre shouted at them.

Marius wrestled the book out of Nico's hands as he directed him to the table. "He'd eat his lunch hanging over a book if he could." Marius said and everyone looked at each other and laughed.

"Hmmm, imagine that." Combeferre said. "Does he like school?" he asked.. "Nico, do you like school?"

Nicolas nodded. Again, the similarities were uncanny. They would have to be sure Nico met Mrs. Enjolras. She's the only one they would believe if she said that he wasn't very much like her son had been. Ordinarily, after lunch would be the time Marius and Cosette would talk with the new foster parents and fill them in on a child's quirks and fears, routines and signals that something was wrong with them but they had only had these children overnight, it took everything they had to get any information out of the four older ones and they knew nothing about Sylvie. She had been only fed liquids at the hospital for rehydration but there was nothing wrong with her appetite. Eating manners, yes, she shoveled her food in hand over fist. She was going to get sick so Grantaire put her food on his other side and fed her bits at a time. How did he know to do that? Eponine wondered. How did that happen with minimum effort and shouting from the little girl who had obviously been starved in the closet and had it taken away from her. She watched the girl's body posture and realised it all made sense. Eat like hell because they're going to take it from you. They finally got into a rhythm, he would give her a chicken nugget and she would eat it as he ate. When she finished it, she would tap his arm and point to her open mouth and he would give her something else. If nothing else, she wasn't afraid of people the way the others were. She relished the company and while her communication skills were at nothing, just a series of sounds, her smile won. She stroked Grantaire's arm then turned and did the same with Enjolras. When Ramin and Danielle came into the kitchen, Sylvie jumped out of her chair and ran to see them like she had been waiting for them to get there. She would have seen Danielle in the hospital but because Danielle picked up the baby right away, Sylvie jumped into Ramin's arms. One was just as good as the other, she just wanted contact and affection.

"Who are you?" Ramin asked, stroking her face and kissing her cheek.

"She can't hear..." Grantaire said. "No, she's not crazy." he stopped the other kids from saying that.

"Okay, who are YOU?" Ramin asked the children around the table. Finally Sylvie went to where the food was so Ramin could hold the baby. They could tell by the way both Danielle and Ramin held him, this was NOT just going to be a foster child. "What's his name?" he asked and everyone looked at Eponine.

"I just called him Joseph but..." she said, a bit sad, she loved babies but she could tell this was going to be a bit more permanent, he had his parents!

"Joe and Joey are okay?" he asked her.

"He's your kid..." Eponine said, they could call him what they wanted.

"I like Joseph." Danielle said and kissed the baby's forehead. "Hey Joe." she stroked his fine dark hair.

Eponine helped Cosette clean up after lunch while the guys played the kids out a bit more. They'd stay in touch because Pontmercys were keeping Keri and she'd want to see her friends.

When they all met in the parking lot at Wal-Mart they had to keep the kids from running helter skelter. They had very little skills of how to react as a group but Sylvie already didn't want to let Grantaire out of her sight. It wasn't men or women she was scared of, it was darkness, solitude and starvation. With a few snacks in someone's pocket, she would follow them anywhere, especially if she knew the snacks were hers.

"Her audiologist appointment is tomorrow." Combeferre said to Grantaire, who could hardly wait to get some vocabulary into her. The first thing they did was head up to the furnishings. They had bedroom suites already but they wanted the kids to select the decor. As if it were a given, Minette headed for spring flowers type pattern. "Don't overdo it." Eponine laughed when she chose the flower quilt, blankets, pillow cases bed ruffle and lamp. "Why don't you do colours instead?" she showed her all the colours on the quilt and they got solid colour sheets and pillow case in the same.

"Peep!" Sylvie said and went over to stroke the wallpaper sample of African print with giraffes and other Savannah animals. She was especially looking at the lion cubs. "Ahhhhh..." she said and pet them. Grantaire watched her interact fondly with all things inanimate. Such a gentle thing, how could they call her crazy? How did she not GO crazy? God alone knew how long she had been in the closet. Grantaire crouched down beside her.

"You like that?" he asked. "A bit old for you..." he thought it looked sort of like a den or hunting room motif but she kept uttering the peeping noise as she stroked the animals. "Come see then." he took her to some children's prints with cartoon animals but he could see her gaze always returning to the more grown up one. The deal was sealed when she ran to a floor standing mirror with an African print frame She ran her hand around as much of the frame as she could reach then put her hands on the glass and looked at the little girl in there. He could tell what was going through her mind so he went and bent down next to her and she looked to her side at him, played with his black curls then looked back in the mirror. "That's me, that's you." he pointed. Her black hair was curlier than his and her eyes were jet black, was it possible her fixation with all things African was part of her genetics? Yes. Would they know? Probably not. "Okay, that's final." he said and nodded that she could have the bedding. The mirror was a bit sophisticated but he wanted a full length for her, she hadn't seen herself in years. She didn't even know that was her.

Nicolas had chosen a navy blue set. No pattern...and the guys smiled.. They had seen Enjolras' room. Various matching sets, sometimes gold, sometimes blue or dark green. Bed always made, never a thing out of place. Even his toiletries lined up. They had a joke that he used a ruler. Gavroche had chosen Star Trek and then it was time to hit the clothing department.

The boys were the same size so they just loaded t-shirts, jeans, shorts, underwear and the always-necessary bathing suits into the cart. Minette loved pretty. Pastels and an assortment of dresses and pants, shorts and, oddly enough board shorts and a t-shirt instead of a girl's bathing suit. No girl pyjamas either. Eponine showed her the nighties and babydolls but Minette didn't want them.

Sylvie...by now called Peep as that was the sound she made when she saw anything that was 'cute' stuck to boys clothes. Eponine tried a few dresses on her and put them in the cart but Sylvie chose overalls and jeans, t-shirts and also the boys' bathing attire.

Gavroche, Daphne and Nicolas gasped when they saw the yard they were approaching and couldn't get out of the car fast enough and start investigating. They even forgot the shopping they had done and ran over to the above ground pool. "No water." Gavroche said as he climbed thee ladder and looked in.

"Do you suppose they're not going to fill it? Why would you have a pool and not fill it?"

"It'll be filled." Ramin said, coming out to welcome the children. "We just have to put a fence around it." he assured them there would be swimming out there. Go into the house and set your rooms up." he told them and followed them, stopping at the parking pad when Courfeyrac pulled his car up. Grantaire got out, cradling Sylvie in his arms. "Whoops." he said, seeing the vomit down the front of her. They weren't sure if it was because she overdid it at lunch time, the travel or, as Combeferre said, the antibiotic IV she was on was strong and she wouldn't be used to any sort of medications. Grantaire handed her over but the noise she created made it obvious she was not going to hold still to take an IV, so after she was cleaned up (with Danielle telling the guys they were all going to have to get used to cleaning kids up) Grantaire accompanied them to the quiet corner of the living room. From her perch on Grantaire's lap, she reached up and stroked the doctor's face as he hooked up the tube and let them relax.

The hot tub would be too crowded and splashy with everyone in there so the adults sat on chairs around it while the kids played the last off their energy out. Quietly they had to laugh at Amy trying to consider her and Enjolras to be Nicolas' "Parents" like Ramin and Danielle were. Eponine hoped that THAT wasn't the reason Enjolras concentrated his attention on the new little boy. She hoped there was honest to God 'bonding' going on there. All of the kids were wary except Sylvie who still craved attention. The tub was a bit hot for her and she had the IV plug in her so she couldn't get one wrist wet so she just stood on one of the seats in the tub. When Combeferre came over with the antibiotic dose, she was fine to sit on a chair for awhile but didn't want to miss any opportunity to sit next to someone and stroke their arm.

"What kind of room do you have, Daphne?" Eponine asked.

"Flowers." she said.

"Bigass sunflowers." Ramin said.

"How do you say flower in French?" she asked Danielle. "I think that should be my name, I don't like Daphne."

"They're daffodils, not sunflowers." Danielle said. "It's Fleur...but I like Daphne."

"I hate it." the little girl said. Her foster mother would screech it and no matter how pleasant anyone else said it, she still hated it.

"People are going to think we're a wierd enough family as it is." Combeferre laughed. They were already used to calling Sylvie 'Peep'. "So, what the hell." he said. The first language between him and his sister was French anyway and Ramin spoke it, chances were they would teach Joseph so Daphne would learn it eventually.

Amy seemed a bit sad that she didn't get a kid but she was the only one who would be working full time in the city plus she needed to get her own life together.

Bedtime snack and teeth brushed, they all realised there were no children's books for stories...so just this once they would get to watch cartoons in lieu of a book. "What are you doing?" Eponine asked when Minette took the bodysuit they had bought her and put it on before her pyjamas. "You're going to roast in that." Minette just shrugged and pulled the boy pyjamas on over the bodysuit. "Minette, just the pyjamas please, you'll get too hot."

"I want it...in case someone comes into my room later." she looked at the ceiling, which was underneath the living room where everyone was sitting. "I don't want anyone in. Does the door lock?" she asked.

"I don't want you locking yourself in there." Eponine checked, thankfully there was no lock. "Nobody'll come in, there's only you and I down here. Are you scared down here?" She asked and Minette shook her head.

She liked it down there and if Eponine could promise that there would be no midnight visitors, it would be heaven but it would have to be proven. For the first while, there would be guarded optimism. "Where's Nicolas?" she asked.

"Upstairs with Sylvain." she said. "Do you want to be with him tonight?"

"You promise nothing is going to happen here?" Minette asked.

"Not only is nothing going to happen but I'll be right there if you need me." she pointed around the corner. "And the rest of us are right upstairs." she held the covers open for Minette to slide in. She let her keep the bodysuit on under the pyjamas and wondered if he was going to last night night before boiling.

"You're hungry AGAIN?" Grantaire asked when Peep appeared by his side an hour after she had been to bed. "Not too much, you'll get creepy dreams." he gave her some crackers. It seemed meager but he knew she had been well-fed. She took them and scurried back to her bedroom. "She's hoarding." Jean Prouvaire said. "She's not eating it. I'll show you once she's asleep." he said and chatted with them, answering questions. "I'm surprised the kids are all so open to physical contact, all things considered, how were they at tuck-in time? Good night kisses? Doors closed?" he waited for reports. Minette didn't seem to mind being downstairs alone. She still didn't trust but they put a chair with a lamp by the door. Light enough for anyone to get in but it would knock thee lamp over and make noise.

"Get her a proper alarm if you need." Prouvaire said. "It just goes in like a wedge stop, but it doesn't stop the door, it just sounds when it's pressed by the door opening. Let her have total control and don't go in there without knocking. The bodysuit makes sense." They all nodded and Eponine brought up the boy pyjamas. "They don't want to be 'pretty', especially at bedtime."

"Shit." Ramin rested his hand against his head. He knew Fleur's history, this made it all real.

"Just avoid telling them that they're "pretty" for the first while, guys." Prouvaire advised. "And if you do, be light and bouncy...come here..." he said to Amy and showed the difference between a creepy and non creepy way to compliment all of the kids. "All in all, I think it's good that they all feel so safe."

After about an hour, he took Grantaire (well soused) into Peep's room. They hunted until they found her stash under the bed. "Snacks are one thing but show her that she doesn't have to hide them." he put them on the little table by her bed. "If they're not forbidden or stashed then she will soon see that they don't have to be kept there at all and may not wake with cravings eventually. Right now she's just wondering when all this is going to go away. Gosh she is pretty." he smiled and kissed her head while she slept. Gavroche was already asleep too. It had been a busy few days for the children and they were all still perfectly remembering the times with their foster parents. With the exception of Sylvie, they all wondered when the promises would turn to lies. When the horns and tails would appear on the adults, when secret rooms and exaggerated punishments would begin. When Prouvaire and Courfeyrac went into Gavroche's room, the little boy jumped awake and sat up on the bed. "Sorry Gavroche, I didn't know you were already asleep. How are you?" Prouvaire asked him and sat on a bench, more or less interviewing him and inviting questions.

"How long do I get to stay here?" he asked.

"Either til you're eighteen or someone wants to adopt you."

"Why don't you want to adopt me?" Gavroche asked Courfeyrac. He liked him. He liked them all for various reasons but Courfeyrac was like a big kid. The doctor- was too but he was...well, a doctor. Enjolras...there was something about him, maybe it was just that he looked 'proper'. Like a college dean or judge. He also had the impression that he couldn't get away with much.

"They probably wouldn't let me." Courfeyrac said.

"Because you're not married?" Gavroche asked. "That's stupid."

"That and..." he stopped himself. Gavroche was too young to hear everything so he had to think of how to word it. "...rather than a home with a mom and dad, Grantaire and I would like to give you a home with two dads and they don't like that."

"Oh." Gavroche said and left it at that - for awhile. Just after a second good night kiss, Gavroche called Courfeyrac from the door. "I think that's stupid, too. Tell them I had a home with a mom and a dad and it wasn't nice."

"Thanks, Gav. Someday we'll all tell them." Courfeyrac said.

"Maybe someday they'll listen to children." Gavroche said. "Good night." The other kids had the same questions, answers and anxieties and while happy to be there, had a very "We'll see." attitude.

It had been a hectic day for the adults, too so shortly after Prouvaire left, people started going to bed. Ironically, it was Grantaire who was one of the soul survivors. "You okay Pony?" he asked as Eponine took everyone's snack dishes to the dishwasher.

"Yeah." she sighed. "Just a lot of changes for one day." she said. "And a lot of eye openers." The part about the bodysuits as if to "lock" out midnight callers really jolted her awake. Then she learned that even the boys had been in the secret room and she too was amazed that the kids had any trust in anyone. Watching Minette and Fleur interact with the men, who treated them like little girls was reassuring and the girls probably found it refreshing, too. Neither of them were likely to have been daddy's girls yet Fleur took to Combeferre...well, who wouldn't? She was already calling Danielle and Ramin 'uncle and auntie'. Both of the men in the small house were going to be excellent examples of how fathers are meant to treat kids and thank God they got there before the girls reached their teens or even tweens. "These kids are so trusting..."

"Well, they're hopeful." Grantaire said and stood up to indicate he too was going to bed. He gave her a hug and she burst into tears. "Pony Pony Pony...you'll get used to it." he promised again. She smiled as he hugged her. She thought he didn't make sense but maybe SHE was wrong. When he hugged her, the warmth and love just poured out of him and his arms were firmly around her in such a friendly way.

"I have to tell you something." she said. "The other day, when I met you and you looked like shit..."

"We prefer to call it 'in costume'" he said and she laughed.

"Okay, in costume. Anyway, there you were and there was Francis in his neat clothes and killer smile. He told me you were going out and I couldn't believe it."

"Many people can't." he said as they spoke the truth to each other.

"Yeah..." she said. "I was so wrong. I just judged you from that moment..."

"And no doubt from this." he held up the last beer can.

"Well, I think we'd all rather you didn't..." she said. "I said 'What is he doing with him? He could do so much better and have any guy he wanted, he's nice and friendly and good looking, what kept him with you?" she admitted. ""Then I saw you in the car just after he had been sick, and later on, and this evening when we were sitting here..." she said, having watched him stroking Courfeyrac's hair as he sat next to him on the couch. "...you take such good care of him. I misjudged, I'm sorry."

"No problem, many do." he said. As she went down the stairs, he hung his head over the railing to talk to her. "Pony..." he said. "You're right, I don't understand it either. He could have any guy he wanted and he could do better."

"I don't think so, George." she looked up and smiled. "Good night."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - sorry so long. This hit during my holidays and a huge festival here. As ever would like to hear what you think and if you have an idea of what they can get up to, I'm open. This is going to be just as ideas hit me or are thrown at me.**

It was an active night with the children all in various stages of settling in and the adults in various stages of Parenting 101. One thing that became very obvious that night to the guys was when Jean Prouvaire told them to get used to keeping a robe by their bed as they'd be getting up a few times in the night. For the first while, they should wear pyjama pants because they could be getting frightened little visitors in their beds in the middle of the night.

Eponine woke up a few times in the night, listening in case Minette was scared or crying. She wanted to go in there so badly but the 'trap' was set up and she didn't want to frighten her but shortly after two, she woke to see the little girl standing next to her bedside. "You scared?" she asked through her sleepy eyes.

"I'm cold." Minette said.

It had been a hot day and a warm evening, Eponine couldn't imagine why Minette would be cold. "Did you kick your blankets off?" she asked. "You're in your body suit and pyjamas, why are you cold?" she asked and reached out to her, feeling her arms. She wasn't cool but she was trembling and Eponine sat up. "Minette?" she asked, flicked on the light and looked at her. "Nettie, look at me." Minette gasped and opened her eyes, then looked around the room. Eponine broke into a smile "Did you just wake up?" she asked and rubbed Minette's arm. "You said you were cold, that didn't sound right."

"Did I sleep inside?" she asked, looking around.

"Yes, your room is there." Eponine pointed and got out of bed. "Come on back...did you used to sleep outside sometimes?" she asked as Minette climbed back up on the bed. "Why would they do that?"

"Just sometimes..." Minette said. She didn't know why. She didn't know why her foster parents did anything they did. Every now and again they would pick one of the kids and make them sleep on the porch swing. Nobody never knew when it was their turn, they didn't do anything wrong to deserve it and sometimes they didn't even start out there. The foster parents would move children as they slept. Sleeping wasn't really the word for it. It was more like they zoned out, they actually slept very little.

Minette looked around her room, remembering the bedding, picking it out. She remembered enjoying herself in the hot tub and a good meal. She remembered being happy that they all got to stay together and going around the living room and kissing everyone good night and the nice guy who came in to ask her questions. She never sleepwalked before, maybe it was because she hadn't slept that soundly for so long. She had never been so tired before either. They were put to bed fairly early at the previous home, sometimes just after supper and couldn't get up until the next morning so they didn't often get the opportunity to play until they could hardly keep their eyes open. "Can you leave the light on?" she asked as she got back into bed, now knowing it was all a dream.

"Of course." Eponine said and snapped the little bedside table lamp on. It's your light, it's your room." she assured her and held the blankets open for her to slide down. "You want another blanket?" she asked and Minette shook her head. "I can't set your table up again by the door..." she referred to the booby trap she put up to keep people from her room. "It really is just you and I down here, Nettie and the others wouldn't hurt you anyway." she stroked the little girl's fine blond hair and looked down to hear from her only to see she was fast asleep. She gave her a kiss and left the light on for her.

Fleur had developed a high fever out of nowhere. She was fine at supper and in the hot tub. At first Combeferre thought her rosy cheeks were a combination of play and the heat from the tub but he noticed she was warm when he tucked her in, then when he checked on her an hour later, she was about 3 degrees hotter. He ran the tub cool and took her night clothes off, dunking her in there and scooping the water over her head. He talked to her, she answered but made no sense and her eyes looked right through him. He wrapped her in a towel and held her until she was dry then lay her back on her bed and aimed a fan at her while he went to get some icepacks.

"Petit Fleur?" he patted her hand. "C'mon, Bebe..." he said, sitting her up and holding a towel in front of her face when she started to throw up until she settled enough for him to get a proper basin and wake Danielle up. "I think we better take her in." he said, pulling something better than pyjama pants on and Danielle just pulled her jacket over the sweats she was wearing.

"Yvan, she's convulsing." she shouted as he was finding his keys. Hopefully it was just the high fever causing it but they had agreed that they would take these children in any shape they were in. If she was prone to seizures, so be it.

"I thought you said you didn't have midnights anymore." Joly said when they got to the hospital.

"Shut up." Combeferre said, the two had a good-natured relationship, it just sounded harsh. Combeferre knew Fleur would be well taken care of whilst he filled in forms. Not that there was a lot to fill in, she had only been there the day before. It was always such a long wait in emergency, mostly they would just need to bring her fever down so Combeferre told Danielle to take the car back home. He'd stay and they could pick them up the next day. This was one of the reasons they had a week off to get the kids settled, otherwise Combeferre may as well just stay for the night and work all day.

"She's okay." Joly said. "Talking and awake, we're just hydrating her a bit, nothing in the blood." he handed Combeferre the results. Combeferre went through the curtain where Fleur lay on her side on the bed.

"Hey, Sucre..." he said and stroked her hair.

"It happened again, didn't it?" she asked.

"What happened?" he asked. "This has happened before?" he asked about the seizure.

"When I get too hot." she nodded.

"Fleur, we need to know these things, we wouldn't have cooked you in the hot tub if we'd known. It's okay. Sleep a bit okay?" He covered her up and got up to go visit with some friends.

"Do I have to stay here?" She asked.

"For a bit more. They've got an IV in you and Danielle left with the car so we're here for a few hours. First person awake at the house will come back for us."

"I don't have to stay?" she asked.

"No, I think you're okay, maybe cool you down just a little bit more." he felt her forehead, she was probably only a degree or two over normal.

"But I don't have to stay here?" she asked again.

"I just told you..."

"I'm going home again?" she asked. "With you?"

"Yes." he said, sitting back down. "With or without me you're going home. Want me to stay here?" he asked and she nodded.

Fleur slept and Combeferre dozed for a few hours until Fleur was hydrated enough to give Joly a sample. "We need the room." Joly almost apologised because he knew their ride hadn't gotten there yet but new cases were coming in and they needed to clean up the ER room and get it ready for someone else. Fleur got dressed and they moved out to the waiting room where Combeferre held her on his lap while she slept awhile more.

Grantaire felt the tapping on his arm. Oh good God who stuck the razorblades in his eyes? No doubt it was the same person who carpeted his tongue and filled his stomach with raunchy battery acid. They were up so many times in the night, he and Courfeyrac said 'good night' to each other about five times. He could feel the warmth of Courfeyrac's body on the other side of him so he knew it was still pretty early in the morning. Oh, right, the children. He could hear Enjolras talking in the kitchen. He opened one eye...against his desires and saw little Sylvie standing beside his bed, pointing to her open mouth.

"You have food..." he told her and looked at the clock. 7:30, it wasn't as early as he'd thought and she had a doctor's appointment sometime that day. "I'll show you." he got out of bed, it felt weird, they all had to wear pyjama bottoms now with Eponine and the kids there. "Look." he showed her the food on her night table. "It's all yours...you don't have to hide it anymore..." he smiled and didn't know how to explain. "Sit." he patted the bed and they broke open some crackers and shared them. "You can keep it there or...come here." he took some of the food back to the kitchen. "You can keep it in here and have it any time you want." he said. They would have to be sure to keep it down to crackers or something small but Prouvaire said that it wouldn't be long before she would understand that she wasn't going to be starved or locked in a closet.

"Peep, Come pick out your cereal." Enjolras waved her to the pantry. They all spoke to her as though she could hear but she shook her head. She wasn't going to go anywhere near such a small closet, even though it had a glass door and anyone could see in there. "Nico, come here." Enjolras said. "I know you have already picked cereal but show Sylvie that it's okay." Nicolas went over and grabbed a box of cereal from the shelf and took it to the table. "You like that?" he asked Sylvie. Her eyes shifted from the cereal on the table to the pantry door and back again. "Come pick something else." he said and stepped to give her a wide berth. Grantaire picked her up and walked in there with her, holding her up to the shelf as she scanned the selection before picking Raisin Bran. As soon as Grantaire put her down she ran like hell out of there, back to the table. "Maybe leave this door open for a long time." he said.

"Maybe check with Ramin and see if we can take the door off altogether." Enjolras said and poured the milk on her cereal as Grantaire explained about the hoarding and giving her her own little cupboard for food.

"Can I have one?" Nico asked.

"You know very well when you can eat, she doesn't understand yet." Enjolras explained'

"You're in enough trouble as it is, Nico." Gavroche hushed him.

"Why is Nico in trouble?" Courfeyrac yawned as he came out into the kitchen, his black curls all over the place.

"You're NOT in trouble." Enjolras told him. "I told you, nobody's in trouble."

"He peed in his bed." Gavroche said.

"Nobody is in trouble for peeing their bed." Enjolras assured him and kissed the top of his head."

"Yaaay!" Grantaire cheered to break the tension.

"Oh God don't tell me you're going to start THAT now." Courfeyrac said. The joking and light conversation between the adults loosened up the children.

"Before, when one did, we all had to stay in bed all day." Gavroche explained and that would explain why he was angry at Nicolas.

"It won't happen here, Gav." Enjolras promised. "Things will be very different here than what you're used to...mostly for the better."

"I don't know what would be for the worse." Gavroche said and looked up out the window to see Ramin pulling into the yard.

"Someone was up early." Courfeyrac said, then noticed Combeferre and Fleur getting out the passenger's sides and Combeferre picking Fleur up. "What happened?" he slid the patio door open.

"She probably got too hot again.." Nicolas said.. "She goes all crazy when she does..."

"Yeah..." Combeferre said as he went into the dining room and asked Fleur if she was hungry, sitting her down to a small bowl of cereal. "...so we found out. It's not 'crazy' though.." they all wanted the kids to stop using the word. "Nobody's crazy, okay?" he said. "Well..." he looked at Grantaire "...almost nobody." he then explained to the other adults. "Her body doesn't regulate its own temperature so she can overheat. When she overheats she seizes but they're not serious, now that we know. So, limited time in hot tubs and playing outside when it's too hot. And we're all going to have to learn to deal with them." he said and explained. "She has slept and I have not ... can she stay here for the day?" he asked though it wasn't like the others were 'babysitting', Fleur would probably either spend her days at the house or have friends in the small house.

So records were starting to form. They had training on how to deal with seizures and deaf children. Minette slept with her light on, Peep hoarded food, Nico was extremely sensitive but independent and particular about the order of his stuff. Later they would see that he couldn't stand a tear or button missing off of his clothes, even if it was pyjamas or play clothes. Okay, so he was a bit more anal than Enjolras that way. Gavroche was the joker but when he fell apart, it was total meltdown as Combeferre and Courfeyrac found out one night a few weeks later.

"Gavroche..." Combeferre rolled his eyes when fight broke out between he and Peep over a pack of crackers. With her newfound hearing, she learned names very quickly and became pretty good at telling the others off even though, for now it was a butchered version of English.

"Well, I'm hungry too." Gavroche said.

"That's HER cupboard and if you asked her, she's getting better at sharing." he told her while Gavroche objected to the seemed favouritism. The fight wasn't one-sided though. The first person Peep ran to was Grantaire. The first thing they were instructed to do was try to get her to tell them what was wrong but Grantaire heard the tears and shouting and went in there.

"It's okay!" he told Peep. The two adults had to work hard to keep from laughing about the whole situation ... these kids had nothing and were so ready to settle for less but a fight broke out over a pack of crackers when they both knew there were plenty of others. "Stop it." he told her to quit crying. "It's just crackers and you're not starving." he knew the point of her own cupboard was being phased out anyway. Each day they filled it less and less. "Enough!" he said over her hollering as she competed with Gavroche's hollering. The best thing to do was get them out of each others' sight.. They had learned from experience that if they wanted a kid in a tantrum to go to their room, to send them not take them. They kids were used to being led into a room and severely punished, they had no concept of a simple time-out. Consequences were severe in the foster home, which was what kept them from fighting and fussing for the first while at the acreage. Once they learned about time outs or putting one in one house and one in the other, they felt free to disagree, fight, argue "that's not fair" and say that someone was being favoured.

"Let's go." Grantaire picked Peep up and took her outside so she and Gavroche couldn't exchange rudeties, however primitive they were. He sat one one of the lawn swings outside, the air was cool but it was still a warm spring evening and she sat on his lap, rocking as she started to fall asleep, still crying but it was mostly because she was making herself cry. "It's not necessary." he told her. "You can share your cookies..." he told her but he could hear that Gavroche was not settling as well, Combeferre worked hard to reason with him.

"Where's Francis?" Gavroche cried.

"He'll be home. He and Syl are just fixing something up." Combeferre said.

"How come Nico got to go along?" he asked.

"YOU didn't want to go, Mr Crabbypants." Combeferre reminded him that it was offered. "Maybe have a bath and get ready for bed...Gav it's not worth the..." he said when Gavroche started freaking out. "What's WRONG?" he asked. "Well, there's no reason to be so mad." he said when Gavroche said that he didn't realise the outing was going to take so long. Eponine had taken Minette grocery shopping, he was a bit jealous that he hadn't thought to go along.

"I'm always expected to be the oldest one." Gavroche cried. "I have to look after the others, I have to stop making them cry..." he continued to freak out.

"Are we expecting you to?" Combeferre asked, going through the motions of getting the sweaty little boy in the bath. He went over things in his mind, maybe they did? He thought about their meetings with Prouvaire. Certainly Gavroche and Fleur were the most clearly spoken but they were still only five years old. Gavroche followed him into the bathroom where the tub was filling with cool water. By now the kids trusted them to help them dress and undress, cuddle them dry and get their pyjamas on so Combeferre pulled Gavroche's shirt off then went to get his pyjamas while Gavroche took the rest of his clothes off and got into the bath, very upset. "Don't puke in the bathwater" Combeferre told him when he came back in ans Gavroche was still very upset, blubbering and coughing. Combeferre ran a cloth under cold water and held it to the back of Gavroche's neck for a moment then wiped his face before washing the day's dirt and sweat out of his hair. Francis and Syl are setting up something great for all of us tomorrow, I think you'll like it." he said.

"We'll like what?" Gavroche asked, his breath quivering.

"Surprise.." Combeferre shook his head and pulled the plug, holding the towel for him to climb into then cuddling him dry as Gavroche continued to hiccup and whimper the whole time. He held his pyjama pants for him to step into then buttoned up the top. "You gotta' settle down though..."

"I'm just a little boy." he cried.

"I know you are.." Combeferre said, softly then picked him up. "You act so grown up, we forget." he kissed him, glad to look out the window and see Enjolras and Courfeyrac pulling back into the yard, Eponine behind them, their deeds done. He sat on the bed and held Gavroche as he spent the last of his tears and energy until he was just a few quivering sighs with each breath. Finally, Courfeyrac came into the room. Grantaire had filled him in as to what happened now he was hoping Combeferre could help him with WHY it happened.

"Grantaire said he just freaked out." Courfeyrac said softly. Gavroche took the last of his waking moments to crawl into Courfeyrac's arms, sit on his lap facing him and rest on his shoulder. "Just over some cookies? That seems rather..."

Combeferre held a shushing finger to his lips and shook his head. "He feels like we expect a bit too much and to bend a bit for the others..." he reached out and rubbed Gavorche's back as Courfeyrac held him and rocked him to sleep.

"Do we?" Courrfeyrac asked.

"I don't think so but that's what he feels like." Combeferre said. They'd have to watch that. "Sorry Gav." he said and kissed the back of his head, leaving Courfeyrac to rock him totally to sleep.

Nicolas came bounding in and saw no kids, a bit disappointed that he couldn't share a secret with them. "You're not supposed to tell them anyway." Enjolras said and told him to take a bath. "Take your sister!" Eponine hollered as she and Minette came in the house with a whack of groceries. "Go have a bath." she told her.

"Just leave everything by the door, Pony." Grantaire said, coming through the door with Peep in his arms. "I'll grab it." he took her to her room and undressed her, putting her in bed. He put her pyjamas on the bed so if she woke up she could change into them. He went back out into the kitchen and brought the groceries to the counter, stopping at the fridge and popping open a beer. "Got enough?" he asked, pulling bag out of bag.

"It's a lot of people to feed, 'Taire." she said and chased Minette to have a bath with her brother. "Nico! Keep your mouth shut!" she said.

Finally all little bodies were in bed and big bodies were collapsed on various couches and chairs. Combeferre and Courfeyrac brought to everyone's attention what Gavroche had said. "It was so sweet..." Combeferre said sadly, "I'm just a little boy." he imitated.

"Of course he's just a little boy." Eponine said.

"Well, I guess we should remember that. Just 'coz he's street smart and seems to be more savvy than the others." Courfeyrac said and they nodded.

"Got a good spot?" Combeferre asked Enjolras, who nodded. "I guess it's early to bed then." he said, though it didn't matter, Combeferre was always busy therefore he was always tired. This was the last weekend before everyone would be going back to work and there would be shifted workers to come in during the days. Most often it would be Cosette, who would bring Keri. Once school started, other plans would ge set in motion but for now, the period adjustment was going to go out with a bang.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - geography. Calico Acres is (obviously) an acreage, it is near 'the town' of about 20,000 which is about 20 miles outside of 'the city' which is over a million. So the acreage is about 30 miles outside of 'the city'. I still haven't decided which climate to put it in but right now it's midsummer anyway.**

Summerfest was what everyone in town looked forward to. There was the big fair in the city, too but the acreage was only ten miles from a smaller town that did its own thing in the height of summer. They had their own little selection of rides as well as farmer day things like a parade, hay rides and races, old fashioned baking and food contests. All the things people tend to think of as being 'square' but when they get there they at least sit in a chair and enjoy the weather and watching everything going on around them they liked the small town folk activities. The Calico Family didn't know anyone else in the town except to say hello to. They all worked in the city so even groceries were bought on the way to and from work. They still hadn't decided if they were going to put the kids in school in the town or in the city. They were leaning towards just enrolling them in town. It was already a bit of an enigma what was going on at the acreage, they didn't want people starting to think they were starting one of those closed communities. If the children made some friends in town, there would be sleepovers and birthday parties and things to make the townfolk see that they were just an ordinary family in extraordinary circumstances. There were also a few other 'satellite' homes full of other seized kids in the town and the city. Ramin and Jean Prouvaire oversaw them all.

"Where are we going?" Fleur asked when she saw one of the vans being loaded up with everything they would need that day...and it was a lot, considering all the bodies who would be going. Eponine, Amy and Danielle had been up since the crack of dawn making salads. They sat a very hungover Grantaire to wrapping potatoes for baking, his head exploding every time he had to rip the foil off or two utensils banged together. The other guys were busy getting the kids ready and just getting themselves rolling.

"Big day." Combeferre told her. "Did you go to the fair when you lived in the city?" he asked her and she shook her head. "I'll bet you didn't. Well, this is going to be twice as good then because you'll have nothing to compare it to." he smiled. He knew that kids who were used to seeing so much and having everything would find the county fair a bit lame but these children had had nothing so everything, this year at least, was going to be an adventure. Maybe in a year or two they would find out it was small scale and rather 'rural' but hopefully they would always find it dear in their heart and always think of it when they remember 'home'. "Go get your bathing suit and at least one more change of clothes..." he told her "...AND A HAT!" he shouted. On her way back into the kitchen, Ramin grabbed her and smeared sunscreen on her. Fleur and Joseph were the only kids in the small house so first thing in the morning it was quiet. It didn't stay that way as the other kids had free range of both houses so nobody ever knew where the next source of noise was going to be starting up. "Take your stuff to the van and anything that gets left behind that you need is your fault." he told her. Fleur dropped her stuff at the van that Courfeyrac and Enjolras were loading up with everyone else's stuff then ran into the house to see the others.

"Sunscreen monster!" Ramin said as he was grabbing each child and slathering them with it.

"Wow!" Gavroche said, his eyes wide at the three cooler chests that were being loaded into one of the vans. All the booster seats had been loaded into one van so the kids all rode together and the happy chatter was deafening as Nico kept his secret. They had threatened him that if he let it leak, he would have to stay home and that was certainly enough to keep him quiet. They also could have been mean enough to make Grantaire drive the vanload of kids but Eponine drove it and Amy rode shotgun. Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Grantaire brought another van and Ramin, Danielle and Combeferre brought the odds and ends in Ramin's car.

Pontmercys were already out there and Keri came running to meet the van as the kids began to pour out of it. Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Nico had set their stuff out the day before. It was recommended for large parties to go out and reserve their spots. Organisers of the festival had given them signs to mark their boundaries and it had been nice enough weather that they could leave a few plastic ground sheets out there. They were allowed to park one vehicle at their site and Marius had brought his camper so there was a bathroom and some napping spots, which, once set up Grantaire took for a few hours. The rest of the vehicles, after dropping everything off had to park a way up in the parking lot.

The kids were wriggly as they looked at everything in the distance. They would have liberty in awhile but they needed to know where their site was. Courfeyrac grabbed wrist bands and snapped them around little wrists, thus giving them access to the rides and attractions. He slipped a card in Peep's pocket just in case, though she was learning Grantaire's phone number. There was a baseball tournament, entertainment shelter, stilt walkers and clowns and magicians roamed around the grounds and the beach wasn't too far away.

"Okay..." Enjolras...the man with the plan briefed the kids. "We have all the food and drinks here so don't ask for money. You don't have to all stick together but at least stay in pairs." He said but it was probably going to be all the girls and all the boys.

"Stay AWAY from the beach." Marius told them "We'll take you there afterwards but the sun isn't over the water yet, the water is cold so you can't go swimming anyway."

"Let...them...go!" Jehan said to the men who were laying down the law. "Go!" he said to the kids before the guys could say anything more and the kids took off like it was the starting line of a race. "It's totally safe here. The parade is going to start in awhile so they need to get a place to sit." He watched the kids scatter as if they were crows and he had just fired a gun.

"THAT'S a great idea!" Combeferre said when some kids from another large party went by with t-shirts. The t-shirts all matched and had a parents' phone number on them.

"Hey, we should make a crest." Courfeyrac said.

"It's not a summer camp, Francis." Eponine teased him.

"Neither is theirs!" he pointed. They did all agree though that the t-shirts were a great idea as the kids from that one group were easy to spot. Even if there had been a few groups in the same colour it narrowed the number down to watch.

"If you're Calico you should go with a dark tie dye." Marius joked as Grantaire stumbled out of the camper in his darkest pair of sunglasses. "WHY, George?" he asked, almost having sympathy pains.

"I don't mean to." he said, guzzling a bottle of water before switching to his opaque travel mug. "I'll be okay if I can just stay sitting up." he said. "Maybe I'll go jump in the lake when it warms up." the adults sat on the blankets and talked, watching all the townfolk mingle.

"Maybe you should go now. The water is still cold." Courfeyrac suggested and Grantaire peeled off his shirt...maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

"Hello." a middle aged lady came over to them. "We were just wondering..." she didn't have anyone with her so they didn't really know who the 'we' were "...are you a private school or...?" she was awkward and the guys realised that they didn't have really a way to explain WHO they were.

"Foster home, group foster home." Eponine said.

"Hard to place kids?" the lady asked.

"Not really..." Grantaire said. "They'd be easy to place, just hard to find good foster homes now."

"Pull up a pillow, have a seat." Combeferre said, as they had only brought pillows to sit on. He flipped the cooler open and offered her something to drink.

"I was a nanny, the kids are in high school now so if you need a babysitter or for outings, I'm here..."

Everything else she said went by all of them in a blur, they would catch it later. Once they were all back to work, they would need someone at the house. They could do it by bouncing shifts and the like but if there was one dependable one...they had a small in-law suite over the garage.

"I hate to talk business today..." Ramin said and handed her a business card. "Can you call me tomorrow? You like infants, too?" he asked. For an answer she took Joseph, who was totally content in her hands. God let this work out. She would need to be interviewed and police screened.

"You have a deaf one?" she asked.

"She doesn't sign..." Grantaire said.

"Oh, neither do I, I thought that may be a problem."

"She'll take lessons but none of us sign so she'll grow up in a hearing household." Grantaire said, back from a brief swim. They tried not to talk business but everyone was enthusiastic about it.

"Come on the rides with us..." Gavroche ran to the blanket and tugged on Courfeyrac's arm. His face was painted like a tiger and his hair had God knows what stuck in it.

"Gavroche..." Enjolras asked him for the third time "Where...are...your...shoes?"

"Nico has them, I can run faster without them." he continued to tug on Courfeyrac's arm. As Courfeyrac got up, he hauled Enjolras with him. Combeferre excused himself from the picnic to follow them and they went to find Nicolas. The environment was small and homey enough, contained, so that the kids could wander on their own - all over were groups and cloisters of children as their parents sat in the shade around the park. But they weren't allowed to ride any rides unless their parents were there. They didn't have to go ON the rides, just be there.

"Where's Fleur?" Combeferre asked the boys. He could just imagine them leaving her out there to shrivel up like a little raisin.

"She's sitting in the shade." Gavroche pointed to the little girl in flowers sitting on a patch of ground under an awning. "I told her to sit there and when we get to the front of the line she can come and get on the ride." he explained. No wonder they had a habit of thinking of him as 'the oldest'.

"Bonjour petit soeur." Combeferre said when he found Fleur sitting in the shade. He sat next to her and felt her face, she was doing very well. The girls weren't far away either and Peep came running to Combeferre, stroking his arm then sitting with him, stroking his cheek and he reached beside and played with her hair as he talked to Fleur. "You wanna' go on the ferris wheel?" he pointed and Fleur nodded, so did Peep. "Up there? You too?" he asked her and she nodded. They all got to their feet and into the line a few paces behind the Gavroche/Nicolas/Minette combination.

"Dads, you can ride with them too." the operator said.

"What's the purpose of the bands then?" Enjolras asked. They hadn't paid for the bands but everything, to him, had to have an explanation. It was only when the line ups got too long, then the parents would be banished to the sidelines so they broke into different groups. Enjolras with Nicolas and Minette, Gavroche and Keri with Courfeyrac and Combeferre had Fleur and Peep.

"Oooohhhh..." Peep said, but it wasn't her usual expression of excitement or discovery, it was more like...well, like she didn't want to be there at the moment. Combeferre looked from Fleur's smiling face to the other side of him where all he could see was a mop of curly black hair as Peep had her forehead resting on the lap bar.

"What's wrong, Peep?" Combeferre leaned down to put his head next to hers. "Don't like?" he asked...hoping she wasn't going to get sick. Every time the wheel took them up into the air, she gave a whimpered "oooooh". "It's okay..." he wrapped his arms around her and held her so she knew she wasn't going to fall out.

"Peep, see if you can see the others..." Fleur said. Combeferre sat between them so Peep wouldn't have heard.

"Can you see everyone?" he asked, and then by magic, Grantaire was down below shading his poor eyes from the sun, looking up. "Look, There's 'Taire." he pointed down and she looked up. He encouraged her to wave as they drifted by him, taking her mind off of the fact that they were sailing back up again and she waved. Thank God that kept her busy. She smiled and then started looking down from way up high to see if she could still see him then when they came whooshing back down she waved to him again. At least the ride didn't seem to last time eternal with her having a better time for the second half of it and Combeferre was able to enjoy it with Fleur whose raven hair blew around. It was soon going to be long enough for her to tie back. She always wanted longer hair than her shaggy little cut that she and Keri got. Peep was the only one who had long hair and it was probably because it was so curly, they hadn't noticed how much it had grown. Once the mats were cut out and it was shaped a bit, Eponine put it in pigtails and spent evenings doing something different with it. Growing her hair was one of the things Fleur was looking forward to in this house. She played a lot with the hair of the women of the home.

Peep went running over to Grantaire when they got off the ferris wheel. She grabbed his opaque travel mug and started to drink. Combeferre jumped until Grantaire mouthed "it's water" so he let her have a drink. "Did you enjoy that?" Grantaire asked and pointed to the ferris wheel. For an answer Peep nodded and pulled on his hand to take her on it again. He had a beer in him and that had replenished his energy without making him drunk and he went to the ferris wheel line up again. The others went on to the other rides while the ferris wheel was well used by Grantaire and Peep. The few times he could get her away from it for awhile, they played a few games where he won her a stuffed frog. She had stopped calling things "peep" for cute, knew the word cute now but wasn't getting her mouth around the word 'frog' yet so by the time they got back to the picnic site, the frog was called Pongo.

The day had grown hot. Those who hadn't settled in to a picnic lunch were already at the beach and in the water, some die hards were still at the fair grounds but most just sought shade for the next couple of hours. It was a handy time for naptime and the children slept in the camper, a few on the blankets outside and Gavroche and Courfeyrac went back on the rides for the next hour so the others could sleep.

"Getting to be a kid again and not the oldest now?" Courfeyrac asked Gavroche as they enjoyed a few hours just the two of them.

"I wish someone could win me something." Gavroche sighed.

"You think I'm going to be outdone by Grantaire?" he asked and they went to the small row of games.

"Yes, I think Grantaire is better than..."Gavroche said when Courfeyrac didn't hit the target.

"Watch it Gav." Courfeyrac smiled. "You want something, we gotta' work for it, 'Taire just got lucky." he said, moving on to throwing hoops and finally winning. "Pick it." he offered Gavroche the choice of toys. "DON'T...take the frog." he warned him. It was bad enough they fought over cookies, the last thing he and Peep needed was identical toys.

"I was going to get something else and give it to Peep anyway." Gavroche said. "I don't need anything to sleep with." he chose a Dora knock-off doll. "Can we go swimming?" he asked as they got off of the Scambler.

"Sure, let's go see if the others are awake yet." Courfeyrac said and they headed to the cool shade of the picnic site where everyone was awake and getting changed into swimwear. Gavroche didn't care if the others were ready or not. He wanted to spend time with Courfeyrac and really didn't care if it were just the two of them. He knew that if the house thing wasn't permanent, Courfeyrac was and hopefully they could just live together. He also knew that Grantaire - therefore Peep would also be part of the deal. He didn't mind the big house, it was a different kind of crowded and noisy than the foster home but what he wanted more than anything else was just to be in a family. A real one. Then he thought again, there would always be something odd about his family, even if they did all separate into smaller homes. There would not be a mom and a dad and people would find that odd. People who had never been in a house of misery and about as loving as a snakepit, anyway.

Everyone had eaten, napped and changed into their swimming suits by the time Courfeyrac and Gavroche got over there and were raring to go. "We'll catch up." Courfeyrac waved them on and they went into the camper to get ready. "You having a good time today, Mouse?" Courfeyrac asked him.

"Yeah." Gavroche said, taking his clothes off and pulling on his swim trunks, grabbing something to drink while Courfeyrac changed. "I wish we could do this every day." he said. "I think this was the best day of my life and Nico said the same thing." he told him. Courfeyrac grabbed a drink of his own and they left the camper to go down to the beach. Gavroche did not slow down all day. It was like he didn't want to miss a single moment of it, lest it be his last day on the earth so as soon as he located his friends, he ran like hell into the water and fell face first. Courfeyrac was close behind him and dove a bit deeper to get soaked then went back to get Gavroche, picking him up and throwing him out deeper but reaching out to get him when he surfaced and started thrashing around.

"Sorry...forgot not everyone can swim." he said as he grabbed Gavroche and pulled him close. Gavroche wasn't upset but he had been a bit scared and Courfeyrac was glad that he WAS CPS, rather than having them observe him. Gavroche clung to him as he shook the water out of his shaggy blond hair but asked him to throw him back in. He couldn't swim but he knew that no matter how long this game lasted, Courfeyrac would be there to grab him every time.

Nico was a bit of a different story. He clung so hard to Enjolras' bare skin that he left nail marks. He wanted to go in the water but was scared to even be put down. "I won't drop you now let go." Enjolras tried to get his little nails out of his arm. "Haven't you ever been in water before?"

"Not a lake, I don't want fish biting me." Nico said. He couldn't swim either but the fear of being bitten was worse.

"Is that all?" Enjolras said, tempted to put him down but wanting him to trust that he would always be there to protect him. "Look at all of the people here, you think they're getting bitten? You think fish are going to be anywhere around here with all the noise and motion in the water?" he asked and kept going deeper until there would have been no way Nico could stand up in there.

"Are we gonna' go deeper?" he asked, shivering though the water was warm.

"Yep." Enjolras said. "I'm 6' tall, we have a long way to go." he said and started to let him float on his own but felt Nico's arms tighten around his neck. "Let go, I'm here..." he said. There was something in his voice and...presence. Enjolras was for real. Often people wondered why he took up this challenge. He was never 'mean' to the kids but it was almost out of character to see him in swim gear at all, let along walking out into the water, reassuring a child that it was all okay. "You know how to hold your breath right?" he said when they got deep enough. "Just like when you're washing your hair and go for the final dunk, right?" he said. "I won't drop you but I'm putting you under the water, all you have to do is hold your breath, I won't let go." he said, finally convincing Nico to let go and do as he was told. As promised, Enjolras only put him below the surface for a few seconds, then pulled him back up and held him firmly on his hip again. "Okay?" he asked and Nico gasped to exhale while he nodded. "We'll do it again when you're ready?" he asked and in a minute they did it again. This time Nico accidentally sucked a bunch of water in. Enjolras could tell the way he tensed and lifted him to the surface. "Cough, cough..." he encouraged, holding him tight so Nico knew he was safe. "Spit it out. Yes, into the lake, it's okay. Just putting back what you took." he grinned. "Try again?" he asked but Nico let out a quivering breath and held around his neck. "Maybe later?" he asked.

"Just don't let go." Nico said. "Promise me you'll never let go."

"I won't." Enjolras promised. "Ever. If anyone is going to let go, it'll be you and you will, eventually, once you're no longer scared and don't need me." he said, thinking not about swimming but everything. Bike riding, horseback riding, skating, whatever he wanted to do. "Look at your sister." he pointed.

"Let's just lie on our bellies here..." Eponine said to Minette and they lay down in the water at the very edge of the lake. "...let's blow bubbles." she said and lowered her face into the shallow water and blew out.

"It sounds like you're tooting in the water." Minette giggled. She tried it a couple of times but was laughing so hard she ended up inhaling water, coughing until it came flying out her nose. In spite of it all, she was laughing and enjoying her girlie time with Eponine. Finally she started getting the hang of it and they blew bubbles in the water for awhile. Minette didn't notice but Eponine was inching out. Soon, Minette was having to lift off of her belly and just be down on all fours. "I can't go out any farther." she said.

"Sure you can, I'll help you." Eponine said and sat up, holding Minette who was still having a blast blowing bubbles. She held Minette chest down in the water while she doggy paddled and blew bubbles then switched her to a hip carry. "We're going to go under and blow bubbles." she told her. Minette was hesitant but kept her arms around Eponine's neck as they submerged for just a second. "Nico!" Minette hollered and showed her brother how she could go under water for longer than he could.

"You need to take these out." Grantaire said about Peep's hearing aids and put them in their case by Danielle and Joseph. He picked her up and took her farther away from shore than she had ever been in her short life. "Don't..." he said as she wriggled out of his arms and dropped into the water. He fished her out, sputtering and choking back to the safety of his neck. "...won't be doing that again in a hurry will you?" he grinned. "Here, do this." he held his breath and plugged his nose. When she did it, he dropped her in again for just a few seconds until she bobbed up to the surface and he grabbed her. He took her over to the pier and stood her up on there then stepped back, waving to her to jump, which she did before he finished waving. There was no fear in this girl other than closed doors and starving and she was getting pretty good in the food department. She may never like the doors closed. For now the cool water, sun in the sky and what she could hear of everyone squealing and laughing made her so happy. Feeling his arms holding her and knowing that when she dropped below thee water' he would catch her again.

Fleur had confidence, too of the hands that tugged her around and held her up so she could take a few strokes without noticing he let her go for a second. She had even taken a few strokes around the hot tub and managed to move herself in the water.

"I want to go deep where I can't touch bottom." she said to Combeferre. With his arms under her belly, she wanted to see if she could swim a bit without having the bottom of the lake to depend on. He tugged her out to where the water was and pulled her hard so she would glide along the top of the water a little way, waving her little arms before her midsection started to sink again.

"Keep your bum in the air." he said, putting his arms under her belly again. "Like that, yeah, don't let your bum drop into the water." he said and gave her another zoom. She only went another few inches than the time before it but it was a very sunny day and he wanted to get her back in the shade for awhile. He put her back in the shallower water with the other kids and went to their spot on the beach to take her hat and sunglasses out to her when he heard a severe streak of foul language coming from the blanket.

"Yvan!" Marius hollered. "Frances just got stung on the eyelid by a bee."

"Oh balls!" Combeferre rushed Fleur's stuff to her and went back to the blanket where Courfeyrac was still swearing, hand over his eye. "Let's see." he said but Courfeyrac wouldn't take his hand away. The children all came running over and Combeferre hauled him to his feet. It was obvious the day was over for at least the two of them. Grantaire and Combeferre led Courfeyrac up the path and back to where the camper was while the others stayed behind and rounded up the children and Ramin went up to the main parking lot to get a car. It took a bit of convincing the managers to allow him to take the car back down to their site because the camper was already there but eventually they gave in.

Once in the camper, they sat Courfeyrac on a chair. "Now I need to see it." Combeferre said and pulled Courfeyrac's hand aside. Grantiare took it to keep him from putting it back over his eye. Marius came in and started preparing an ice pack and everyone else helped the kids change out of their swimwear. Chances were it was going to be just Courfeyrac and Combeferre being driven to the hospital by Ramin but the kids were upset and the festival was pretty much finished for them. "Gavroche, stay outside for a minute." he said when he saw the little blonde boy out of the corner of his eye. He tipped Courfeyrac's head back and looked. "Ew." he said and winced as he looked at Courfeyrac's rich cocoa coloured eye. The white was now so bloodshot it almost blended in with the iris that usually danced and sparkled. Courfeyrac said he had been stung before so he knew he wasn't allergic so that was a relief. Whether or not he needed to even go to the hospital would still remain to be seen but the real urgency was staid. "Gotta' pull the stinger out...do you have tweezers?" he asked Marius, who rooted around in Cosette's make up bag and found some, washed them up and handed them to him. Combeferre felt Courfeyrac's face. "You're pretty clammy...you feeling okay other than the sting?" he asked, worrying about a bit of shock. "Got a bucket?" he asked Marius, who produced one and they shoved it in Courfeyrac's hands. "Just let me know if you need to use it." he said. Grantaire held Courfeyrac's head back and stroked his hair while Combeferre lowered the tweezers and gave a sharp pull as the stinger came out clean then put the ice pack on Courfeyrac's eye and let him sit up again.

As soon as Courfeyrac sat up, he leaned over the bucket and threw up. It wasn't the toxin, though that probably didn't help but it was more just the pain and the idea that he'd just had a bee stinger removed from his eyelid. Grantaire rubbed the back of his neck as Combeferre soaked a towel in cold water and wrapped it around Courfeyrac's neck to try to stop the nausea. "You want to lie down?" he asked and once Courfeyrac's stomach settled, he nodded and Grantaire led him to the bunk, lay him back and gave him a fresh ice bag. Combeferre felt Courfeyrac's pulse once more then left them alone.

"Hey, he's okay." he said to Gavroche, who was sitting at the picnic table waiting for the news. Everyone else was packing things up, it was getting late in the day anyway. There were fireworks at the end but they would be able to see them from the back deck fairly well. "You can go see him if you want." he said softly. "But be quiet, don't jump around a lot because his stomach is queasy and he may be sleeping." he said it softly enough and took him to the trailer swiftly enough that nobody else saw it. This was Gavroche's special time and Combeferre went over and helped pack up.

Gavroche's little legs had a hard time getting up the camper stairs but he made it in and looked at the bunk where Courfeyrac was lying with his head on Grantaire's lap. Grantaire was stroking his hair with one hand and pressing a cool cloth against his face with the other. "Wanna' help?" he asked Gavroche who nodded. "Can you bring that basin of cold water closer?" he pointed. "Wet this and wring this out again." he handed him the cloth and helped Gavroche pat the cool cloth on Courfeyrac's face and neck. "We have to keep him from rubbing his eye." he told him. "So you hold one hand and I'll hold the other."

"Sometimes people die from bee strings." Gavroche said. "I heard someone say that out there." he nodded with his head towards the beach.

"You'll have to talk to Combeferre about that but you have to be allergic to them in the first place and he clearly isn't. But we're watching to make sure." he promised.

By the time Courfeyrac and Gavroche were asleep in the bunk and Grantaire came out of the camper, the site had been packed up and the shadows were creeping right over where they had sat and roasted most of the day. They didn't want Courfeyrac moved to the car until they were totally ready to go then Marius offered to just leave him where he was and he'd drive the camper out to the acreage before going back to the city. Combeferre came back in and checked on him one more time. He was happy to feel his temperature was just 'hot day' temperature and not fever but he looked forward to getting some antihistamines in him anyway. He picked Gavroche up. He wanted him belted in a seat rather than lying on a bunk.

**A/N - I have no way to wrap this part up but it's getting long. **


	8. Chapter 8

Grantaire led Courfeyrac into the house. "Put him on the sofa.' Combeferre said. "Someone needs to watch that he doesn't rub his eye." he went into the bathroom and found antihistamines, feeding a few to Courfeyrac.

"I'll watch." Gavroche said. It wasn't like he was going to sleep until he fell over anyway so they let him sit there as the other kids were told to bathe and wash their hair. "Don't rub your eye, Courfeyrac." Gavroche told him and held his hand, watching for the other to come up and he'd grab that, too. Soon the medication would make him drowsy but that wouldn't stop him from rubbing it in his sleep so he'd have to be watched all night. "Do you want something to eat or drink?" Gavroche asked and Courfeyrac said that some ice tea would be nice. Eponine fetched him a glass of ice tea and a straw so he didn't have to sit up to drink it and Combeferre said he was going to come back in a few hours then he took Fleur home.

Fleur pulled her pyjamas on and went to Amy to blow dry her hair before bed. She told Amy about her day, right up to the end. She had loved everything. Her guard was lowering as her trust for the situation she was now in was increasing. She loved being in the smaller house because she always had the option of going back there but she could stay at the big house as long as she wanted. She loved the gentle doctor, his sister who was always in some form of laughter and let Fleur help with the baby. Olive-skinned and handsome Ramin who, as the summer went on became the colour of well baked bread. Not as soft spoken as Combeferre but still gentle and a nice laugh.

She also loved leaving the peace of the small house and going into the noise of the big house. If there wasn't a real fight, there was a war with foam balls or pillows and it wasn't just the children! There had been water fights in the back yard when it was hot, they had a tendency to gang up on Enjolras. It was as though they were all saying "you're going to have fun whether you want to or not." She loved the feeling of laughter, whether it was watching the games take place or with Minette on sleepovers. She didn't remember a time of happiness, she had lived in the foster home all of her life.

Amy finished blowing her hair dry, this was usually the time for a snack or hot chocolate but she had eaten enough that day. She gave Amy a hug and kiss then went into the living room to where the others were.

"No snack tonight?" Combeferre asked. He changed his mind about waiting a few hours to go back to the house. He hadn't changed out of his swimming trunks and thought sitting in the hot tub sounded like a good idea. The fireworks from the fairgrounds would be starting soon and he asked if she wanted to go out to see them. She shook her head, she was exhausted. "Okay, brush your teeth then and I'll be in to tuck you in." he told her. She pulled the stool from beside the toilet up to the sink so she could reach by herself and brushed her teeth while Combeferre turned down her sheet and light blanket, put a glass of water on her night table and waited for her to come padding into the bedroom after kissing and hugging Ramin, Danielle and the baby. "Did you have a good day today?" he asked her, holding the blanket open as she slid down. "Sorry it had to end the way it did." he said.

"Will he be okay?" Fleur asked.

"Yes, he'll be fine. He's just going to be uncomfortable tonight so he'll be tired tomorrow but he's not allergic, he's just fine." he promised and kissed her forehead. "Bon soir mon petit soeur."

"Bonsoir mon grand frere." she smiled. "Je t'aime."

"Je t'aime petit fleur." he kissed her again and stroked her hair as she yawned and closed her eyes.

Normally Gavroche would be first out on the deck to watch the fireworks but he took his duty at the couch very seriously. Even though Courfeyrac was asleep, his hand totally limp in Gavroche's, the child would never forgive himself if he left his post and came back to find Courfeyrac had rubbed his eye. He could see a few of the higher fireworks from where he was and there would be others to be seen.

Everyone else was out on the deck and Gavroche looked around the room. He looked on the couch and watched Courfeyrac sleep for a moment. He looked like he needed a kiss so Gavroche bent over and gave him one then looked at the living room. While it wasn't "his", he couldn't believe that he lived there now. Thinking about the stink and squalor of the foster home, trembling every time the door opened, not knowing who was coming in, if it was good or bad news. If they were going to get kicked off to bed or lined up on the couch and forced to sit still for hours. He didn't know if he would be with his friends or sent to sit outside on the porch until they said it was okay to come in...for no reason. It didn't matter if it was warm or cold, summer or winter and it wasn't always him. Sometimes it was Fleur, other times Nico. Never Minette but she had punishments of her own.

The laughter and "oohs and ahhhs" from the deck brought Gavroche back to the present. He looked around the living room again, felt the plush carpet and looked at the gas fireplace...it was going to be so cozy there in the winter. The furniture was soft and made of kind fabrics, not tweed or scratchy cheap stuff one step up from burlap. It wasn't easy to get a 'burn" when he sat on the furniture in just shorts, there was no angry red scratches or on the back of his legs when he stood up again. Sitting on that furniture in his shorts was like sitting on satin.

He took a deep breath. Nothing stunk. Of course he was one of the ones responsible for doing a chore or two to keep it that way but any time he wanted, he could go to the fridge and get a cold drink. Any time he wanted, he could climb on a chair and pick a piece of fruit out of the bowl on the table. In the mornings, he could select his cereal and the milk he poured on it was fresh and cold and if he wanted more, he could have it.

He closed his eyes. He needed to stay awake for Courfeyrac. Courfeyrac stayed awake for him when HE was sick or scared, Gavroche needed to stay awake. He thought about his bed. The mattress was lump-free and didn't stink of urine. The pillows were fluffy and he had two big ones and two small ones to bury himself in - or wallop Nico or Enjolras with. His night table had a friendly lamp and a little hockey puck shaped nightlight and his door was never closed tightly. It even made him feel good to hear Grantaire's snoring but he did wonder how Courfeyrac could sleep there. The few times Gavroche had woken scared and padded into their room, he tucked in beside Courfeyrac for awhile but if he did sleep at all, it wasn't too much before he was no longer scared and went back to his own room. A few times he woke to find Courfeyrac asleep with HIM. He guessed that those were the nights Grantaire's snoring was REALLY bad.

Did Courfeyrac really mean it about giving him a home with two fathers? It would be strange. Not having two fathers but being without everyone else. He wouldn't have minded being just a family of four but he liked the house with all the people. No matter how busy the guys were, any of them, if Gavroche was having an insecure moment, needing a cuddle or to tumble and rough house like puppies, they would take time out for him.

He sat on the floor in the plush carpet and lay his cheek on the soft fabric of the sofa, his face right next to Courfeyrac's in case he woke up and needed something and he closed his eyes.

The first firework that exploded scared the hell out of Peep. She had never heard anything so loud and in one move she reached up and took out both hearing aids, handing them to Grantaire, more or less saying 'here, I don't want these ever again'. After they were out, the popping wasn't as severe and she watched them from the safety of Grantaire's arms.

She was wide-eyed and shaky for a second until she started to enjoy the colours and unpredictability of them. After that, because she was safe, she put her hand on her chest to feel the bangs, then on Grantaire's chest, then held her ear to his chest. They were different from when the thunderstorms were directly overhead and woke her, scaring her into Grantaire and Courfeyrac's bed...where Gavroche was also. Those were the nights that the guys questioned where they should upgrade from queen size to king size bed but knew it wasn't going to happen just too often. Rarely did noise wake Peep and as long as she knew where she was when she did wake up in the middle of the night, very little took her out of bed and crawling in with Grantaire but when she did, she was in a fit of tears so it could only be a nightmare. She didn't just lean her head on his chest when she slept there but draped her whole body across his chest, her head pretty much between him and Courfeyrac. Odd, but if she could tell them, it was so that her heart was over Grantaire's. She could feel his beating and it calmed hers. There was so much she would have liked to share with them.

But she loved her cute room with the animals, she didn't care if she never came out of there. True, it was just a 'bigger closet' but this time it was HER bigger closet. How much she loved her room, the hot tub, lying in the grass and staring at the sky and the spinach salad with oranges that Amy made. How her feet got too hot in socks and shoes because for the first 5 years of her life, she never wore them, or at least she didn't remember doing so. How she loved the smell of things, especially people now that she was around people who smelled like soap, maybe deodorant, fabric softener...yes, smelling fresh laundry instead of stale peed on clothes...for this reason she wasn't as smitten with the baby as the other girls. He stunk like the things she left behind in the closet. How she loved the feel of the soft curls of Grantaire, Courfeyrac and Enjolras compared to her own frizzy curls and how she loved the silkiness of Combeferre's hair and loved having her own hair brushed then tied up for bed. How watching TV was an enigma but it would be better when she could read. Until then, it was just like books, the pictures were nice, even if she didn't know why people were laughing.

How she didn't understand that after the "honeymoon period" of living together was over and the others bickered...they thought it was funny to send her (unbeknownst to the adults) on her own in an elevator at Target. The others jumped out as the doors closed and waved to her through the glass door as it sailed up to the second floor. The store was only two floors, they knew she would be back in a second but SHE didn't know that. Nor did she understand why she and Grantaire went to the water splash park after that and the other kids did not but she had fun squirting others with the hoses and nozzles for a few hours. She wondered what the other kids had done while she was at the splash park but the house was very clean when she got home and she wondered what she had done to get out of Saturday chores this week. She thought about a lot of things and Grantaire watched most of the fireworks reflected in the little girl's big brown eyes, wide open in new wonders of the world.

Nico held his hands over his ears and gave a small jump with every explosion. He was leaning against the railing and could feel the warmth of Enjolras right behind him to keep him calm. "They're noisy but they're far away." Enjolras bent down and said next to his ear and Nico nodded, knowing he was safe.

It wasn't just there he was safe, it was everywhere. Maybe the kindergarten was going to be different than the playschool. Maybe the kids this year wouldn't dance around him and call him a sissy. Maybe Gavroche wouldn't have to spend so much time coming to his rescue...or joining in, for Gavroche was not always an angel. Maybe it would be okay that he liked looking at books, listening to music quietly and only kicking a soccer ball for fun, not for points. Maybe someone would understand that skinning knees may be what other little boys were famous for but they hurt and he didn't like his clothes spoiled. With his own room, at least things didn't get messed up or put out of place. Even his toothbrush was in the same place every morning, he could take showers instead of baths in a tub with three other kids. He could enjoy the silence in the evening, going into Enjolras' room as he lazed on his bed, back against the headboard and knees up, reading. Nico could take his own book or colouring book in there, sit on the bed with his book against Enjolras' knees and the two could be together in silence. Or he could bring a movie in to watch on Enjolras' laptop, sometimes they would lie on their stomachs on the bed, heads propped up on their hands, munching popcorn. Or he could take his book and lean against the headboard so Enjolras could read to him. Even the same story twice in a row. Sometimes he fell asleep there. Sometimes Enjolras did, too and in a few hours he woke up with a very stiff neck, drool all over his shoulder and his little boy sleeping peacefully. Safely. A few times he picked him up to take him to his own bed but that alarmed Nico. He didn't know what was happening and didn't fully wake up until he was scared so Enjolras would just pull the covers over him and let him sleep there. Safely.

Minette almost ignored the fireworks. They were pretty but she was more intent on looking into the hot tub, running her hand through the bubbles and probably wishing she could sit in there. Obviously Combeferre had plans of doing so...he was her second favourite person at the acreage. She knew that she'd be chased off to bed shortly though and there'd be no hot tub. She looked at Ramin with his arm around Danielle and then at Eponine. There were some of the guys out there whose arm she would like to see around Eponine. Amy looked odd next to Enjolras - he almost leaned away from her but then Minette noticed that it was because he was talking to Nicc. He'd look nice with his arm around Eponine, so would the tall blond doctor. She giggled at her idea, everyone heard her but just assumed she was giggling at the fireworks.

She thought about the day at the fair and picnic. It hadn't been so long ago that she was afraid in crowds. Generally, a crowd meant going home with a friend of her foster parents, not the nicest ones either. They would make her dance and sometimes smoke a cigarette, or at least take a puff. They fed her beer. Thanks to Grantaire, she was just now getting used to the smell of beer being somewhat ordinary and not threatening. She knew about drunken people. Not like the other kids knew about drunks just being slurry and piggish but dangerous but now she wasn't scared to sleep. She didn't need to set her trip alarm in her room anymore. He wasn't going to come in while she slept. Hell, chances were he wasn't going to wake up! He got goodnight hugs and kisses like the rest of them and she wasn't frightened the day he had to take her to the city for the dentist. She even started wearing girl's pyjamas. It sounded different when they said she was pretty than when the others said it.

She thought about school, too but she wondered how they would treat her brother this time. Kids could be mean, she found that out in playschool and because they picked on Nico and she didn't like it, she ended up as Nico's only friend, and he hers. Fleur would be going in to the French immersion class and Peep to a different school, hopefully Gavroche would be in their class too. He should be, there wouldn't be that many classes in the school. She thought about the closet of new clothes she had, especially the ones she couldn't touch until school started. The shoes with the fluorescent laces and the lunch bag with the happy face on it. She thought of a lot of things that were going to make her seem like the other kids while at school with the bonus of going home to something unique and welcoming.

"I guess that's it." Eponine said when the finale of the fireworks was over and the gunpowder wafted sideways. They could hear the distant cheering from the fairgrounds and soon they would see the head and taillights leading up the highway while they were all glad that they weren't in that twist of traffic. "Nettie..." she said when she saw the little girl playing in the hot tub water. "...dry off." she pointed to the towels in the cabinet. Minette noticed that the water had splashed all over her arms and the front of her pyjamas. She begged to be able to sit in there for awhile but children's time was officially over and Enjolras was already putting Gavroche to bed, Peep was getting something to drink before going to bed and Nico was in his room getting ready for Enjolras to come tuck him in. Combeferre went into the house for a moment to check on Courfeyrac, whom he was able to wake without difficulty so they weren't worried for his health now, just for the rubbing.

"Can we trust you?" Combeferre asked him.

"Trust me...if I touch it, it hurts like hell." Courfeyrac said. If he did rub it, it would only be momentary until he realised that his eye wasn't itching, it was stinging. "Where's Gavroche?" he asked.

"Enjolras took him to bed. He's already asleep.

By the time Gavroche realised someone was carrying him, he was half way to his room. "No, I have to stay there." he murmured. "I have to make sure Courfeyrac doesn't rub his eye." he protested.

"We'll cover it, Gav." Enjolras said as he carried him and Gavroche laid his cheek back on Enjolras' shoulder for the few more seconds it took to get to his room. He could smell the sunscreen and bug spray on his skin, a little whaft of the one beer he'd had and felt the softness of his mattress when Enjolras lay him on his bed. "You want me to wipe all the lake crud off of you?" he asked, but Gavroche was already too sleepy to answer, could only yawn. Enjolras got a cloth and basin and wiped Gavroche down. It was a hot night, he didn't bother with pyjamas, just took his clothes off, tucked him in in just his underwear, turned the nightlight on, gave him a kiss, stroked his silky blond hair and left him to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

"Anyone else hot-tubbin'?" Combeferre asked after all the children were tucked in and sleeping. Enjolras was already changed and if nobody else was joining, he may have changed his mind when he saw Amy also sliding into the tub but then he saw Eponine and Ramin getting in so he had a lot of company. They recapped the day and somewhat lamented that they were going to have to go back to work on Monday.

"Hey Courf..." Eponine said when they saw him changed into his trunks and heading towards them. "Joining us for awhile?" she asked and he nodded. He was still pretty woozy but had slept enough and a soak in the tub sounded like a better idea than a full shower. He had ducked under the shower for just a moment to wash bug spray and sun screen off then grabbed another ice pack and went to the hot tub. Eponine took the ice pack as he climbed in, leaned his head back on the edge and placed the ice on his eye.

"Aside from the obvious, I think it was a great day." Eponine said.

"Well, for SOME." Amy said.

"Yes, that's what I said." Eponine repeated and rubbed the top of Courfeyrac's curly mop. "What'd you do all day?" she asked, interested on how her day could have been more exciting. Amy hadn't wanted to go to the fair with the hot sun and crowds and looked forward to spending the day in the rare quiet.,

"Cleaning, mostly." she pointed at the small house.

"Not how I'd want to spend a whole day off but okay." Combeferre shrugged. It wasn't like they lived like pigs and Amy had a whole bunch of work to do.

"Help is on the way!" Ramin remembered talking to Mrs Grant at the fair and told Amy about her.

"Excellent!" she glared at Eponine, though whatever that was about nobody really understood. Everyone cleaned up messes but Amy seemed to think it was all dumped on her. Laundry loads were immense and each house did its own, dishes were done per household with the children helping, each kid's room was his or her own with the only two rules being no food in there and the understanding that any adult who got sick of the mess could go in there and clean.

"She'll mostly be helping with the kids." Ramin reminded her. "I don't think she meant to hire herself out as a maid. Do you feel like you're doing it all?" he asked Amy. "You needn't." he pointed out the arrangements each home had.

"You only come here for bar-be-cues and hot tub so you don't need to clean here." Courfeyrac said from underneath the icepack.

"Where's George?" Eponine asked Courfeyrac...who imitated Grantaire's snoring. The social was brief, everyone was tired, Amy was bitchy and they wanted to disband before they started talking about work. Generally, the hot tub sessions took place after they had worked all day and hadn't seen each other. But they had been seeing a lot of each other so they had run out of things to say. Amy was first out and toweled off, slipped on her flip flops and went across the yard to the small house. "Wow!" Eponine said. "What the..." she shoulder checked for little ears "...fuck was her problem tonight?"

"I don't know but I liked it." Enjolras said dreamily and leaned his head back against the edge of the tub, letting the rest of his body float for a bit. For the first time in a long time, Amy wasn't eyeing him up and down and making a fool out of herself and embarrassing him.

"Hang on..." Combeferre said and grabbed his phone. "Don't move..." he took a picture and showed it to Enjolras and Eponine. "THIS is what it looked like from her angle." It wasn't at all what it looked like but Enjolras had his arm along the edge of the tub behind Eponine and the way the seat dipped in and the water distortion it looked like she was nestled into him.

"Aw RIGHT!" Enjolras laughed. "Oh, sorry Ponine...aw RIGHT!" he said again. He felt bad that it took that to make Amy back off. He hoped it didn't freak Eponine out, it was certainly not his intention, it was just a convenient place to rest his arm, it could have been anyone beside him and it would have looked the same. It just so happened to be Eponine, who Amy was more than a little jealous of anyway. Nobody really understood that because Amy was pretty aswell and she DID have choice on which house to live in when they first got out there. What she didn't know was that, had she chosen to move into the big house, Enjolras was perfectly willing to move into the small one, or back to his apartment in the city until she understood there was nothing going to happen between them.

"Oh my God!" Eponine covered her mouth. She was glad that they were taking it so well, especially Enjolras. She knew there was no chance of anything between them either but she certainly hadn't meant for that to appear. "No wonder she was being such a hag." she started laughing.

"She always is." Courfeyrac said from under the ice pack which had migrated to across both eyes so the hot water in the tub didn't affect him as much. "She doesn't think much of any of the girls in the office who are sweet on Syl...which is just about everyone." he grinned about his friend, the ever elusive beautiful blond. The only thing that saved all of the women there from Amy's scorn was that they weren't getting anywhere with him either but Eponine was different, she LIVED with him. Not only did she live with him but Amy didn't, therefore she couldn't watch them all the time.

"She should relax." Eponine said. She didn't mean to move away from Enjolras, it's just that there was more room in there with Amy gone and she was getting a bit tired so it may be time to go in anyway. "I know she was in a shitty relationship and would be a bit suspicious of any guy but..."

"Get your own guy?" Courfeyrac laughed.

"Well...if that's what she wants to believe then yes." Eponine said and got out, toweling off but not storming off like Amy did. She sat on a deck chair while her skin totally dried off. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. Francie, did you want more ice while I'm up?"

"Yes please." he said and handed the pack to her to refill.

"Good night everyone." she said when she came back with the ice pack. She looked at Combeferre, Ramin, Enjolras and Courfeyrac in the tub. "Did I forget to tell you today that you guys really are my best friends? AND him in there, too." she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder to Grantaire's room.

"I don't know if you said it today but yeah, we know." Ramin smiled. "Good night."

Eponine meant it. It had been so long since she felt comfortable so quickly in amongst a house full of strangers and the guys had been nothing but respectful towards her. She never flaunted, she didn't know why Amy kept trying with Enjolras.

Enjolras got out fairly soon after that and showered, getting into his pyjama bottoms, checking on Nico then, before going to bed...he had to get it out of his system. He went downstairs and tapped on Eponine's bedroom door. She left it ajar to listen for Minette. When she told him to come in, he pushed the door open. "I just wanted to..." he didn't know how to word it. "...the hot tub...the picture..." he stammered. It was odd, to Eponine, to see someone so...correct and in control to be lost for words. He was almost awkward...not Enjolras at all. She got off the bed and they went out into the sitting room.

"Syl, it's okay." she said. "I thought it was funny too."

"I just want you to know." he said. "I don't know how much you know..."

"What, why you haven't taken a chance with Amy?" she asked.

"No, Amy is a bitch." He said shortly. "I don't know if they warned you about that either."

"Didn't really have to." she said.

"The next question usually is 'am I gay.' he said.

"No." Eponine said. "Because if you were, I know you've known Francis most of your life and if you were, you guys would probably be married with children by now." she pointed out.

"Well we're half way there." he smiled, indicating the 'children' part. "But you're probably right, I would never have let go of him." Neither of them talked about it but both knew that Enjolras had broken Courfeyrac's heart when he found out he didn't have a chance until he realised that it wasn't that he wasn't desirable, only Enjolras didn't desire him. "I'm kind of not interested in guys either." he admitted.

"Do you know what asexual is?" Eponine asked him. She had taken courses because she would have to deal with kids questioning and needed to have references and resources in everything possible but often adults questioned and needed answers.

"Yes." Enjolras breathed a sigh of relief, not having to explain everything.

"Good." she smiled. "You look like you're in pain." she told him. He had been...sort of but the relief was instant and total. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea either way. He didn't want her to think she had a chance and he didn't want her to think there was anything wrong with her. She was lovely and caring, a good pal but with a woman's perspective. "Hugs?" she said and they hugged. "I meant it about you being my best friends." she said, rubbing his back as she hugged him. "If you only knew what I came from." she said into his shoulder.

"Bad?" he asked, not letting go. "I'm sorry." he said as he could tell she was pretty close to tears. "Talk if you need to. If not now, some other time."

"My family was not much better than the ones you...well WE seized the kids from." she said. She hadn't cried about it for ages. She had risen above it and won.

"Eponine, I'm sorry." Enjolras said. He had grown up in a stern, formal environment, older parents and not a lot of 'fun' but the love was never doubted. Who could a child trust if she couldn't trust her parents. He had no siblings, he was definitely his dad's boy but if he had a sister, weren't girls always daddy's girls? Princesses? Like Minette, Fleur and Peep were now? "It's amazing you think of anyone as your best friend." he said.

"It took awhile." Eponine broke the hug and looked at him. "But I think I won, thanks, Syl." she smiled.

"Any time." he said and kissed the top of her head. "Good night."

Sunday would, in due time become a lazy family day but now it was time to invite Mrs Grant over, get her familiar with the children and vice-versa. Everyone had to prepare to go back to work, fix a schedule when someone would either be at the house or the kids could come into the city. They wouldn't be able to go on calls or anything but there was a lounge at the office, they could watch TV or read while waiting for their ride home.

Another thing they worked on was a weekend off rotation. There would be an opportunity for one or two at a time to go on a holiday or take time away from the house. It was important to schedule because if you were going away, you needed to be sure your kid was provided for by someone else.

Mrs Grant arrived at the big house as the children were eating breakfast. It was run a little like a buffet system on Sundays. No rushed bowls of cereal or bacon sandwiches on the go. "Okay, this is the last of them!" Grantaire brought a plate of pancakes over to the table and dropped them on various plates. "Finish everything else up." he waved at the bowl of scrambled eggs, fruit and yogurt on the table. "You okay?" he asked as Courfeyrac came in with a cup of tea and sat at the table, taking a peach and cutting it open on his plate then piling cottage cheese on top of it. His face was swollen, not as bad as anyone had expected but he didn't have much of an appetite. When Ramin brought Mrs Grant in, Peep stood up on her chair and reached her arms out for a hug. "She's a bit shy..." Grantaire joked about Peep's fearless faith in anyone who came through the door.

"I see that." Mrs. Grant laughed and picked her up, holding her. "This is the deaf one, right?" she asked. Peep had no hearing aids in yet so she wasn't sure but she remembered the black curly hair and it was either the girl in her arms or the beautiful green-eyed one across the table. Peep leaned close to Mrs Grant's face and sniffed her neck. A lot of things would have to be explained about Peep, mostly just the way she communicated. It was a bit strange until you got used to it and it was all stuff that was going to have a stop put to it as she got into school. Right now, the kids were spending a lot of time with psychologists and social workers and that was enough. They knew why she was doing it all, just let it be for now but it was something strangers would have to get used to. Grantaire brought her hearing aids to her and while Mrs Grant held her, he pushed the hearing aids into Peep's ears.

"What do you want the kids to call you?" Grantaire asked.

"Most just called me Nanny." Mrs Grant said.

"Peep..." Grantaire said. "...Nanny." he pointed to Mrs Grant and a version of the word came out of Peep's mouth.

"And you tell ME where she got THAT name." Mrs Grant said.

"It was pretty much all she said. It usually was reserved for something cute but she can hear short, sharp words best so we just use it." Grantaire explained. "She'll answer to Sylvie close up but if you need her quickly, that's a better bet." When Mrs Grant turned her attention to the other children, Peep wrapped her arms around Grantaire's neck and he sat her back in her chair to finish her breakfast.

After the kids were fed and kicked out of the dining room, the adults sat around the table, enjoying their own breakfast...which was basically leftovers. They had all done well in getting used to eating portions of food left behind at any temperature. They brought Mrs. Grant up to date with each child's personality and concerns as well as a bit of their history. Mrs Grant looked in everyone's room and gott their personality from that, the neat freak, the animal softie, the fairy girl, the all-boy and next door the flower girl with whiteboards of doodles. All in all, everyone figured it was going to work out tremendously. In the fall, she would have the keys to the van and take the children to school. It was decided that theey would go to town rather than the city. All except Peep who would be going into the city every morning. They decided to start her rightt away, she had serious catching up to do. The rest of summer wouldd be used for 'getting to know you'.

Luckily, Nanny was an early riser. Her suite was away from the noise anyway but she was up before the children, she was up before anyone. The guys and Eponine were used to waking up to the smell of coffee because they could set the timer but they weren't used to everyone getting a cup at once. Usually the second string had to wait until the pot was empty again.

"Do you want cooked breakfasts or what?" Nanny asked. They really only did full breakfasts on Sundays. Weekdays were cereal and toast, Saturdays were cereal in front of cartoons so the adults could sleep in.

"You're not meant to do that." Courfeyrac said, dressing his coffee and plugging bread into the toaster.

"Well, I'm up now." she said as Amy came to the house. She usually had breakfast there so she had a ride to the city. She was a bit disappointed to see that Mrs Grant was prepared and willing to cook breakfasts as she'd had toast at the house and was only wanting coffee that morning. The guys were trying to talk her out of it, she hoped theey wouldn't by tomorrow. When the time came to start school, it was going to be a busy place for a few hours. The adults would get up and get ready and wake the children so they could see them before heading out to work.

"What about him?" Mrs Grant asked, waving towards the bedroom Grantaire was still in.

"He keeps a different schedule." Courfeyrac said and picked up his daytimer dumping his coffee into a travel mug then dialling his cell number to find his phone. He heard the ringtone from in their bedroom and went in to retrieve it. "Sorry..." he said to Grantaire, who was awoken by the phone.."...thought I had it out ttheere. Have a good day." he said, giving him a kiss and opening the curtains for Grantaire to begin his day. He gave a bit of a groan but he knew he had to get up so he could take Peep to the clinic. He was used to operating hungover so if Mrs. Grant could even tell that he was under the weather, she didn't let it show but she did have a cup of black coffee all waiting for him. "Something to eat? Dry toast perhaps?"

"Yeah sure." he mumbled and spead the paper to read. He was used to having the house in quiet to himself in the mornings, this was going to take awhile. "Good morning." he said when Peep came into the dining room. She was dressed and fed and she handed him a ponytail holder and a brush, looking at the print on the paper as he brushed her hair out and clipped the ponytail in place.

Eventually, he looked at his watch and figured it was time to leave. He drank the rest of his coffee, lifted Peep off of his knee and went to get himself a ratty old hoodie and her a sweater. They bid Mrs Grant a good day and drove to the city.

"This is your school!" he said, excitedly, trying to relay the enthusiasm he hoped she'd take to. The secretary looked at him oddly when they got to the office. She was made up like a little doll and he looked like he'd slept on a park bench.

"Do you want to stay with her?" the teacher asked.

"A few hours before work." Grantaire said. None of them thought about any weaning time. The teacher looked at him as if to ask 'you have a JOB?' "I guess I should." he said, looking at his phone. He had no texts yet.

She had only worn her hearing aids for such a short time, she was only learning to recognise sounds as actual words but she headed straight for the stuffed animals and plastic zoo and farm set, fairly good with the names of the animals and the sounds they make. "You work with her a lot." the therapist said.

"We...have a houseful." Grantaire said and she said to bring a picture of everyone in the house the next day. "it's a lot of people and a rather unusual set up." he said. He took out his phone and flipped through the pictures as the therapist asked Peep who everyone was, getting used to how she said names.

"Is that daddy?" she asked, pointing to the picture of Grantaire, looking at him when she heard Peep's version of "Tsaih".

"She usually hears people calling me Grantaire..." he explained...then the awkwardness of the next picture of he and Courfeyrac kissing. It looked a bit more passionate than it was. It was in the hot tub, everyone was in there and taking pictures all around. Someone said 'how about a kiss?' and they obliged as someone took a picture on his phone. It was a nice picture, he kept it. "My partner..." he said. "Full time, not an orgy." he explained as there were several half naked people in the picture. He flipped again and there were plenty of pictures, not only of the adults but the kids playing earlier that day in the pool and that evening in the hot tub. Other pictures of the back yard, at the zoo and around the house relaxed the teacher. She would have to get used to that but not only did she believe him but couldn't help but notice he was clean shaven and dressed when he wasn't working and that was odd. All around this was going to be a constant work of discovery to see what this family was about.

A few hours into orientation, Grantaire's text went off. "I have to go..." he read the message. "Peep." he called her over and pointed to his watch. "You stay here..." he pointed "...and play "...I'll come back..." he said and could tell she was ready to protest and clung around his neck. He couldn't tell her how long he'd be but unclasped her hands and gave her a kiss. "Play." he pointed to the toys

The teacher had experience with this type of anxiety. "The best thing is for you to just go." she said. "Don't look back, don't come back 'til it's time to take her home. It's going to be a rough day but when she sees you're coming back for her..."

"...you don't understand." Grantaire said, continually trying to explain to Peep that it was just for a few hours. "She has been abandoned and dumped and neglected and in offices and other things for her whole life." he tried to tell the teacher without giving out just too much history yet. "People have always been ... leaving her places. She has spent the past five years waiting for SOMEone to come back." he bent down and hugged her again, picking her up in his arms, holding his face right next to hers to shush her, so she could feel it. "I'll come back...I promise." he said though he knew that was useless. She reached out and pulled his sunglasses out from where he had tucked them into the neck of his t-shirt. He'd've left them with her but he was driving east on a sunny morning and even NOT hungover it would have been tragic. "Give these back." he said, wrestling them out of her hand, trying to think of anything else he could leave with her when she reached out and slapped his face. That was probably the first sign of aggression she had shown since the big row with Gavroche over the cookies. "Hey." he said. "I'm not sticking around if you're going to do that." he shook his head. "Here..." he unhooked his car key from the rest of his keys and put them in her pocket. "...you're lucky you're getting that, don't hit." he told her and kissed her forehead then did as the teacher recommended, turning around, not looking back as she started wailing and he left the school before he had to hear her in full voice.

Twice he called the school, twice they told him that she was okay but they didn't tell him that she had basically laid on one of the benches and screamed for the rest of the day. He got called to court that afternoon so he stopped at the apartment Ramin had hung onto so he could shave and change his clothes. It was now also being used as a resting place for everyone so nobody ever knew who was going to be in there when they got in.

"Hey Pony" he said as she rested on the couch reading.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Bloody." he shook his head.

"They said she's doing okay now though, just not very happy. I think we'll stop at the splash park later." he said. That was her currency. He had no idea what it would be in the winter, they'd have to find an indoor water park somewhere. He did have to think of a way to tell her that she couldn't slap people like that though and stop and get a cheaper pair of sunglasses to leave with her in the mornings as he felt lost without his keys, even though there were none he needed through out the day. He showered and shaved, blew his hair dry and changed his clothes. He hated wearing dress clothes of any sort, even though it was just pants and a black shirt with a jacket overtop. "See ya tonight." he said to Eponine and left.

He was glad that he was only there as a witness and didn't have to testify much more than a few questions because his mind was totally on the little girl in the classroom and he didn't stick around afterwards. His workday was finished and he went directly to the school.

"Sylvie, daddy's here." the teacher said. She knew she couldn't hear her but they always spoke to the children anyway. She went and fetched a very sweaty and exhausted little girl. "Look, daddy's here." she said again. Peep repeated the word, but 'daddy' was a new word for her, it meant nothing.

"Tsaih." she said when she saw him. She barely had a voice left from screaming.

"We're trying to teach her 'daddy'." the teacher said.

"She doest need it." Grantaire said and took his keys out of her pocket. "She doesn't call me that." he bent down and she crawled into his arms. She was so exhausted, bearing the same dead weight as the day he took her out of the closet only she wasn't starved or dehydrated. "Told you I'd be back." he whispered. "I promised." Though he knew he had to bring her back tomorrow.

When they stopped at the splash park, he took off her socks and shoes. She could wear her clothes to play in,, he didn't care. He called Courfeyrac to dop off a towel on his way home. "Wanna come play?" he asked her and showed her the park.

"No." she shook her head. She was exhausted, she just wanted to go home.

"Just for a bit.." he took her over there. The first squirt to her face got her smiling. That was about all they got and by the time Courfeyrac got there, she was ready to go home.

"REALLY?" Courfeyrac asked when he heard Grantaire say that they were just going to go home. Peep loved the splash park, this was so unlike her.

"She's really exhausted." Grantaire said.

"Hey." Eponine got out of the passenger's side of Courfeyrac's car. "You guys want to ride together and the girls'll take their own sweet time." she said, holding her hand out for Grantaire's keys. She could see that Peep was exhausted and she didn't understand why but she knew that it would do Grantaire good to visit with Courfeyrac on the way home. But Peep had another objection. She was not going to let Grantaire out of her sight, even though she had no voice and was fighting sleep. "Oookay..." Eponine said. "How about I take Courfeyrac's car home and you guys all ride together." she offered. That seemed to work out a bit better.

"Thanks, Pony." Grantaire said as he took his keys back, buckled Peep into her booster seat and waited for Courfeyrac to get in the passenger's side. "See you at home."


	10. Chapter 10

Enjolras pulled up into the yard that now resembled a small playground. "Aw who did that?" he asked, a bit annoyed. They hadn't even settled the children and someone went out and got them a dog. "TWO dogs!" he realised as another came bounding out to play with the kids. He turned off the car and stepped out. Nico saw him and forgot about the dog, running over to meet him at the car.

"Come see what Combeferre brought!" he said as Enjolras picked him up for a kiss.

"I think I saw." he said.

"We only can borrow them for now." he informed him...at least, according to Enjolras THAT was done right! "That's Penny." he pointed to the border collie looking thing with seemingly endless energy. "And that is Bear." he pointed to a smaller, long haired Pomeranian cross looking thing. "He's Fleur's own." he said. He wasn't really, he just belonged to the smaller house. By then, they were up to the back door and Enjolras stuck out his hand to meet Penny before petting her head. "He got them from the animal foster home, nobody loved them, like us." Enjolras smiled and kissed Nico's forehead.

"That's not true now." he promised.

"Just for a week for now to see if everyone can keep up with their share of the chores." Combeferre said. He knew that shelter animals would touch everyone's heart and he was assured the dogs were socialised and friendly. He also knew that, by the end of the week, the dogs wouldn't be going anywhere. Like the children, nobody knew much about them and they'd have to learn as they went along. "Can I at least expect that you take your turn?" he requested.

"Of course I'll take my turn." Enjolras said, changing out of his work clothes into a blue long sleeved t-shirt and jeans. It wasn't like he didn't want animals, he just thought three months was too soon. He looked on the fridge at the kids' school supply lists and knew that a trip to the city was going to be in order. He quite liked the shopping excursions, they all did. It was like a huge family event and always topped off with supper at Applebees. He also looked at the community magazine that was on the table. "How many activities are we putting them in?" he flipped through it, seeing names next to some of them. It looked like one apiece...thank God. Peep in swimming, Gavroche and Fleur in indoor soccer and Minette in ballet. Enjolras did a second take when he saw Nico's name next to indoor soccer. He hated sports.

"School starts next week." Nico said quietly as he helped Enjolras shake the pork chops in the bag of seasoning. That was probably the reason Nicolas and, consequently Enjolras hadn't been sleeping well. By now the guys knew when something was up with one of the kids...if Fleur or Minette were in grouchy moods they knew that, chances were great that they'd had a spat and it just took mediation. When Gavroche was grouchy, they knew they were, once again expecting too much of him and to lay off. Peep's main problem was frustration and she went from 0-90 in a moment. She was everyone's doll until something irked her. Some lapse in communication, something that she couldn't express. Her hitting Grantaire in the face took a few days to get over until they figured out that if he didn't shave, that meant he was going to work and leaving her at the school. If he got up and shaved in thee morning, she knew it was a no-school day. She wanted the overnight shadow off of his face. In a week she got used to the routine of school, began to enjoy it and knew he or someone would be coming to get her and she stopped that.

Nico got quiet. He wasn't a noisy kid anyway but 'quiet' in the way that he just sat and watched TV, didn't interact with the others and didn't have any interest in reading. He slept in Enjolras' bed...well, he didn't sleep, he flipped around like a windmill, not only did the motion keep Enjolras awake but so did the worry that something was wrong. He wasn't sure if he could fix it but he wanted Nico to talk. "I thought you liked school." Enjolras said, throwing another porkchop in the bag for shaking.

"I do." Nico said. "I try to. As long as the others left me alone."

"Well, Gavroche and Minette are going to be in your class..."

"They were last year." Nico said.

"But that was playschool." Enjolras tried to come up with a way to get Nicolas to see it was possible to start all over again. "This is kindergarten. You're going to wow them that you can read and speak so well. It's not all about play anymore." he said, straightening the chops on the pan. "Open the oven door for me." He said when Nico jumped off of the stool he'd been standing on to reach the cupboards.

"Did you read when you were in kindergarten?" Nicolas asked.

"Probably not as well as you." Enjolras set the timer.

"Did they call you names?" Nico asked. "Like sissy and freak?"

"No...no!" Enjolras said, Where the hell were kids 4 and 5 years old learning that from? "I was a bit more into sports than you but..."

"Maybe I should go into sports." Nico said.

"You...don't like them." Enjolras reminded him. "Don't go into it to stop people from calling you names." he said. "They shouldn't say that anyway. Everyone is different...is that why you want to play soccer?" he asked and Nicolas nodded. "Then I'm going to say 'no you can't.'" he said. "Sit..." he directed him to the living room and grabbed the community magazine again. He scribbled Nico's name out from soccer and invited him to sit cuddled up in the big chair with him. He wrapped his arm around him and played with his hair as they perused the magazine, flipping past the sports section. "You want to learn a musical instrument?" he asked and Nico shrugged. "You have to have SOME say!" he said, remembering the year his dad thought it would be great to put him in dance classes. It did him no harm but he could have thought of other ways to spend Saturday afternoons.

"Choir?" Nico asked when Enjolras read a few more options.

"You like choir?" Enjolras felt a bit more positive energy through Nico's body when he said that. "You like to sing?" he tried to remember a time Nicolas sang and couldn't.

"I'd like to learn." He nodded and Enjolras wrote his name next to the sign-up for children's choir, seeing a smile creep across Nicolas' face.

"As for school..." he said softly. "...give it a chance." he said. "New town, new school, new kids..." he told him. ""Nico, do you, perhaps know your and Minette's birth order? Who is older?" He figured they wouldn't. It was amazing they even got to stay together all this time. It was just that Minette was so assertive when it came to her over Nicolas but when it was just her, she was soft and quiet.

"You know..." Nicolas said and then whispered "...they used to shut us outside sometimes."

"I know." Enjolras said. "Gavroche told us."

"It was cold." he said, his eyes looking nowhere. "When I get cold I come to your bed."

"When you're cold?" Enjolras asked. He had always thought it was when he was scared. That was only partly right. If Nico woke up cold, he would get scared and go to Enjolras. If he woke up scared, he would get cold and he would go to Enjolras. That was one of the reasons that moving him startled him if he was asleep because he was thinking he was being put outside. "If we get you an electric blanket, that would be good?" he asked. Nicolas looked at him wide-eyed, having had no idea there was such a thing. "Warmer pyjamas for winter too." he said and Nicolas nodded. "I'm sorry they did that to you, Nico." he said and held him. "You must've wondered what the hell you did to deserve that. You know you did nothing, right? You know there was something about the Thenardiers that made them do mean things like that and nobody will know what it is."

"Same that makes you guys do good things?" Nicolas asked. Enjolras explained something Nico wouldn't have known but treating children with respect and love was the default. The meanness was the exception. "If they get more children will you bring them here, too?"

"They won't get more children." Enjolras said. "We knew who they were, they shouldn't have ever been awarded you guys from the very beginning."

"Maybe we would have had real parents if they hadn't." Nico said but then stopped and realised that they wouldn't be having this conversation if they'd gotten lucky with foster parents the first time and he leaned into Enjolras. "It sucks."

"What sucks?" Enjolras smiled. "In order for this to happen..." he waved around at the room they sat in and all of the others getting supper ready "...you had to go through all that?" he asked and could tell that was pretty much it. He kissed the top of his head. "You're right, it sucks." They sat for awhile and watched TV. Their chore was done, it was up to the others to assemble salads, set the table, wash the prep dishes and get drinks on the table before calling the others.

"Where's Combeferre?" someone noticed him missing later on that night during the summary session in the hot tub.

"Had to go back to the hospital, short staffed." Courfeyrac said and in the same breath, after catching sight of Gavroche approaching the hot tub "Now what? Go to bed."

"I can't sleep." Gavroche said. "Can I watch TV for awhile?"

"Very low." Courfeyrac said. "Half an hour." He slid the patio door closed. As ever, work was not discussed but it was adult talk, though the conversation had taken a trend of talking about the kids.

After everyone was dried off and ready for bed, Combeferre dragged his body through the door. "Anything to eat?" he asked. He didn't want to wake anyone in his place as he was cooking. There was generally something to heat up at the big house and he noticed the lights were still on there.

"I think there are a few things to heat 'n eat." Eponine said, swinging the fridge open and popping lids off Tupper bowls and filling a plate, throwing it in the microwave while Combeferre made a cup of tea for himself and chatted with the guys who were one by one going to bed.

Enjolras stole into Nicolas' room. Hearing steady, easy breathing he was confident that he was asleep. Probably still worrying about school but sleeping more soundly than he had in a few days, Enjolras could tell by the relaxed position of his body. Every day they were learning new things about the children. So it was the cold that brought him into Enjolras' room in the middle of the night, not fear. He felt Nicolas' cheek, it was warm but not hot and his stroked his curly blonde hair for a second before pulling the blankets up around his shoulders. "Sorry...didn't mean to wake you, go back to sleep." he whispered when he saw Nico's eyes open.

"It's okay." Nicolas smiled. "Being tucked in is nice but someone coming to tuck you in when you're already sleeping is better." he said and snuggled down in the blanket that Enjolras was securing around his body.

"Okay, maybe try to stay in your own bed tonight, we'll both sleep better." Enjolras said and kissed the side of his head. He stuck his head back around the corner of his room and bid Eponine and Combeferre a good night. The house fell into uncommon quiet of just Eponine and Combeferre talking at the kitchen table.

Eponine woke up very early and looked at her clock, 4:30. Everyone hates that moment when their eyes pop open, wide awake at an ungodly hour. She could feel the bed weighted down, it had been awhile since Minette had crawled in with her but the kids were all a bit odd with school less than a week away. She rolled over and looked at the blonde hair on the pillow.

Then it hit her. "Good god, did that really happen?" she asked.

"Yes." Combeferre's voice sounded on the pillow. He, too had awoken with the same question until he realised, just a bit before she did...

Yes it did.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry so short and sparse - I'm just knee-deep in a very serious issue in my life but I love using my downtime for writing.**

There had been no wine or other alcohol at the table. She was clearing the dishes and washing the Tupperware as he was using it. If he had been admiring her from a distance, he hadn't let on. They hadn't talked about it at all. As a matter of fact, had he given ANY clue that he was interested in pursuit, she would have stood still, he wouldn't have to chase. She was no more infatuated with him than any of the others and she didn't believe in love at first sight but she wouldn't mind giving it a chance, if only he had asked.

It wasn't like he lay awake every night nervous about what she would say if he asked her. He wouldn't say he loved her only as a friend because, living in a situation like they did, none of them could say that about each other. Their living situation surpassed everyone's boundaries of friendship daily. Waking up that morning, lying with his eyes closed, trying to process how it happened, he retraced everything that led up to him snoozing next to Eponine. Not just snoozing but "recovering" if you will from something they would desperately have to discuss.

He had just been ready to leave and she was saying good night to him. He was ground level, ready to go out the door and she was two steps up, ready to go back into the kitchen to clean up the last of the dishes so they were pretty much eye to eye when he thanked her for supper and said good night.

Their faces were drawn together, it was like two hands, one on the back of the head of each of them, pushing them closer until their lips touched and then the hands let go, letting them move on their own to press the kiss tighter and hold it longer. She reached around his neck, running her fingers just under his hair, along his neck while he held her face in his hands, moving from kissing her lips to the side of her face, by her ear and her neck. Had there been a wild scramble to the bed? Not that either would remember but there was certainly no discussion. So few words had been exchanged, in fact that he worried that he had just helped himself. That would be so unlike the gentle doctor, God he hoped not. He was glad she had woken up, too. He needed to get home but didn't want to slip out the door. It would be awkward of the guys found out this way. Perhaps if they'd been going together but this was not the way it would be exposed to everyone.

"Oh my God..." she said again then began to giggle at the absurdity of it.. "I can't believe this."

He wasn't so sure that he would have taken the humourous approach but at least it removed his worst fear. "Why don't I remember how it got to this point?" he asked. They were both on their back, looking at the blackness of the ceiling. "I just need to be sure..." he said. "...I want you to promise that I didn't force you."

"No." Eponine said. "I wouldn't let you."

Combeferre let out a sigh of relief. "Now what?" he asked.

"Now you better get dressed and get home and ... we'll talk about it when there's less of a chance of my door flying open and a five year old jumping on my bed." she said and he pulled his clothes on. Why did he feel like he should be leaning over and giving her a "goodbye-have-a-good-day" kiss? After he left, Eponine rolled over and put her face on the pillow he had slept on, almost wishing he was still there. She had this horrible feeling...what it had only been sex for him? Plain, loveless gratification...if she hadn't been there then Amy would do? She didn't want that...but she didn't think she could live there if it were the case. Had something started? Was it going to be "I like you as a friend but..." type of thing? It had been a long time since she had been used. She swore she would never be used again. It was what kept her out of relationships as she would want to wait and, even after explaining why they wouldn't want to wait. Many a broken heart over that matter and now, here, someone she knew but it had never been discussed, never been hinted at...it didn't "wait". Probably the worst of it all was - she knew she was on no kind of birth control and was pretty sure that, even if he had something, she doubt he brought it over or it hadn't been used.

She kept on her happy face in public, only hiding her face in her hands and thinking "what if" when she was in the bathroom. "You feel okay?" Courfeyrac asked. "Spending a lot of time in there."

"I'm a girl, Francis, we do that from time to time." she excused. If only that were the reason, she would relax and rejoice. At lunch time, the text came from Combeferre asking when she was finished work and if she could come to the hospital when she was done. "Morning after pill?" she texted back.

Combeferre read the text. Oh dear, what had they done? What if? They were already compatible companion-wise but what if? What the fuck IF? "We'll talk." he said.

"I'm going to get a ride back out with Yvan." she said after work.

"Ah..huh?" Courfeyrac's eyebrow raised and he grinned.

"Shut up Francis." she said. "It's in the young, fragile stage and I don't want you guys toying with it yet."

"Not a word." he said. They were BFFs and had many psychology sessions on the trip in and out from work. Of all of them, she knew him best and he knew her. By then he knew about her teen and college years and why the apprehension. "He's a great guy, Ponine." he told her.

"I just worry that if it doesn't work out and we're both living out there, then what?" she said.

"I...cannot see it not working out." Courfeyrac said and dropped her off at the hospital.

"So..." Combeferre said as he switched his white coat for his leather jacket. "Don't want to take you for a beer..." he said. "Coffee?" he asked. There was a Starbucks across the street so they went there. "I don't know what to say." he said.

"Me neither." she said. "But let's not ignore that it happened okay?" she said about the elephant in the room. "Regardless of the outcome."

"Agreed." he said, glad that neither had felt the need to apologise. It was probably because neither knew exactly how it came to be. "Bigger things to think about, apparently." he said. "You want the pill? It's totally up to you. If you wait for a test then it's too late for the pill." he explained.

"Yeah." she said. "If I don't...what if...? she asked.

"Ponine..." he said, reaching across and touching her hand."...no matter what, no matter how this goes...I will not run away." he promised. "Even if it becomes awkward and one has to leave, you will ALWAYS know where to find me."

She believed him. He would do his part. Not just because the other guys would clobber him if he didn't but that was, she could tell, the type of guy he was. "I don't want to influence what you want to do but if you want a pill, it has to be very soon."

"I'm due in a few days...it can't wait?" she asked,

"A few days?" he asked.. "Well, unless some things have changed since I was in college, we've got nothing to worry about, you're WAAAY in the safe zone...WE'RE way in the safe zone." he breathed a mental sigh of relief. "You want the pills anyway?" he said.

"I...don't think so." she said and he nodded.

"I won't run away." he promised.

"Neither will I." she smiled.

It was a rather quiet three days. She knew she didn't have to 'worry' but the last thing she needed at the time was a baby.

Three days later, Combeferre smiled at the text on his phone of a "phew" type emoticon. Again Courfeyrac dropped her off at the hospital. "This gonna' be a habit?" he asked her.

"Mayyybeeeee'." she smiled and got out of the car. Courfeyrac smiled as he drove home, quite happy for both of his friends.

The hospital had nice walking paths and before Starbucks, they walked the winding sidewalk through the trees and hedges for a "settle down and catch our breath" walk.

"Now that we know it's not...going as we..." he didn't want to say 'feared' but he thought the same as her, it just wouldn't have been a good idea.

"Thought." she said.

"Yeah. But had it..." he said. "...do you think we would have...had a chance?' he asked, smiling when he felt her hand in his.

"I think we have a chance now." she said. "Just get this in the right order. Had you told me before.."

"I didn't know." he said. "Honestly, it hit me out of nowhere..."

"...you thought I was with Enjolras." she said.

"I guess so. Didn't think it sounded right but yeah, maybe I guess so. I was just hoping that whoever came along would take good care of you. You went through so much with your father and his shitty friends. That was why I was worried that it wasn't your idea..."

"Don't even dare putting yourself in the same camp." she said. "And I guess you're the one to take good care of me." she said, her hand clamped around his upper arm.

"And I will." he said gently. "You know we're gonna' take a ribbing." he said.

"Mmmhmm." she said. "But all in good fun."

Eponine tried to think of a way that she could let Courfeyrac know that all things are well without spilling the beans to the others just yet. He raised an eyebrow at her when she came into the house and she smiled. In the car, she had told him all. She couldn't get by him that she was worried about something, he knew her every concern. Her smile told him that it was cool between her and Combeferre but Courfeyrac wasn't too clear about the baby, of if there was going to be one. The fact that she didn't opt for the hot tub after decorating the yard for Hallowe'en told him something though because she loved the hot tub. But...it was a nice evening for a walk, he couldn't blame her for wanting to stroll with Combeferre.

They called it "the forest" but it was just a bit of woodland. Enough that you felt isolated but you could never get lost before coming out the other side. "Settled down a bit now?" Combeferre asked as they clasped hands in the cool October air.

"Yeah." She nodded. "You?" she asked and he agreed. "I think they know though." she waved towards the house. "Not the baby...but this." she held up the hand she had connected to his. "If Grantaire knows then everyone does." she laughed. He knew when to keep his mouth shut, obviously or he wouldn't be in the job he's in but he also knew when to spill the beans and make it sound like an accident. "I really am worried about Enjolras though." she said. "Amy really is going to be tenacious now that she knows we're not together.

"She had pursued him a long time...he'll be okay." Combeferre assured her. "She's just clueless and desperate and pretty mistrusting of guys.. Enjolras is 'safe' and familiar."

"Safe." Eponine giggled. "Does she know?" she asked.

"I think she thinks he's gay and she can cure him." Combeferre said.

"Hi kids!" Grantaire said. He and Courfeyrac had the same idea to be out in the forest for a walk and they met them coming the other way. "How long you been behaving like this and not telling us?" he asked.

Eponine threw back her head and laughed. "Oh 'Taire, of the many reasons I love you, one is that you always have the most interesting ways of wording things." she laughed more. "But don't tell me that Francis didn't say anything." she accused.

"I may have let it slip." Courfeyrac shrugged but gave his head a subtle shake when Eponine looked at him so that she knew he didn't even tell his boyfriend everything. Only that they were together. Not to mention, Combeferre had hinted to Grantiare the night before when they were sitting up with Peep who had a fever. "We're just trying to think of how to keep Amy from Enjolras. We thought of giving him a secret imaginary boyfriend now that..." she held up her hand that was attached to Combeferre's.

"I thought you were his secret boyfriend, Yvan." Grantaire said, finishing up his beer."I was but I went and found Jesus and he cured me...away with your filthy, sinning selves." he jokingly waved at the couple. "Really though, I'm trying to explain to Ponine that Enjolras has dealt with Amy before, he can do it on his own." He said and the other two nodded. "It was, after all her attention to Enjolras that finally made her leave the jerk she was with and get out of the situation. Just, unfortunately the whole story didn't play to her specs."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N, I'd like to thank the guest(s) who have been enjoying my story. Bring your friends LOL, the fun will go on as the seasons change. I just don't want to get too far ahead of myself. On with the show.**

"Whoah!" Gavroche said when he looked out the window in the morning to see the decorating job they had done in the yard. "Do we get to dress up and go out this time?" he asked.

"You didn't do that before?" Ramin asked. "How sad!" he said. "What does everyone want to be?"

"Fairy!" Minette said, surprising nobody.

"Pirate!" Gavroche said and looked at Nico.

"Lion?" Nicolas almost asked. Even that was a big step for him. Lions were big and loud, two things Nicolas was NOT but his golden curly hair would be a good start for a mane.

"We can go into the town trick or treating for awhile then come back here for hot dogs and a party." Courfeyrac said. "If it's a nice night, we can have a bonfire, if not, we can have it in here." he said and then was the question of guests. Every kid would be able to invite one friend. With the extra child and parents, that would be a heck of a lot of people at the house but it was easier to have it out at the acreage, then everyone would be home and just go to bed at the end of it.

"Can we have someone dressed up like a dummy then scare people when they go by?" Gavroche asked. He had seen it on a TV show and it always made him laugh. Everyone decided it should be Grantaire but it would still be up in the air if they were actually going to do it at all, let alone have Grantaire volunteer. One of the things that NONE of the adults thought about was scaring the kids just too much. They weren't really familiar with the fallout of that because they all enjoyed being frightened and startled. Luckily, that was something the older people at the office would fill them in on before it happened.

One thing that they all agreed on was that the costumes were going to be home made or at least gathered from thrift shops and what they had at the house. Everyone held a disdain for store-bought costumes. They may buy the pieces but they wouldn't buy the whole costumes. Amy and Danielle liked sewing, so that was going to come in very handy and the rest of them would take a few trips into town with the kids to piece together their desires.

Gavroche, in particular couldn't sit still when he thought of the fun to be had for Hallowe'en. The closest he had gotten to it was the year before when they had the party in playschool but he hadn't dressed up. The other kids had and it looked like it had been a lot of fun. He still enjoyed the party and the treats but it would have been so much more fun in costume. He talked about it daily and squirmed in his bed as he tried to fall asleep. Courfeyrac worried, if he was that squirmy with the approach to Hallowe'en, what was going to happen in the build-up to Christmas?

"Meet the creature night?" Grantaire said when he read the invitation on the fridge to the school open house.

"...and YOU stay sober for this." Courfeyrac threatened. He didn't mind him in various stages of drunk once they were in for the night but only gave in to a limited one glass of wine to keep the jitters down when they were going anywhere, especially teacher meetings.

"Do I even need to go?" he asked. "Peep is in a different school and nobody else ever goes there." he reminded them. Courfeyrac paused and had to admit that was true. The school knew the others in case they had to pick her up but otherwise they were totally uninvolved.

"Oh, alright." Courfeyrac said. "You come tonight and I'll be more involved with her." he made the deal but Grantaire would have gone anyway.

Enjolras came down the few stairs from the master bedroom in a polo shirt and khakis and Combeferre came from next door in a t-shirt with the hospital crest. He debated going in his scrubs, too tired to change but people tended to think of him being "diseased". Did they not think that if been anywhere infectious he wouldn't be wearing them? So he actually showered and put fresh clothes on.

The whole set up was going to confuse the teachers anyway. They knew the kids were fosters but figured they had a dad and a mom like all foster homes.

Combeferre went into the French immersion class and shook hands with the teacher before sitting at the desk to look at her work. "Does she have a foster mom?" the teacher asked.

"No, we're actually more of a group home setting. Fleur...Daphne...sorry, we call her Fleur at home..." he stumbled. "...I assure you I'm just tired."

"You're a doctor right?" the teacher asked.

"A tired one, yes." he laughed.

"Her artwork is incredible already." the teacher spread pictures in front of him. "For a five year old - this is great. The colouring..."

"Colouring?" Combeferre asked. "How about her reading and alphabet?" he asked.

"Excellent too, but the colouring is important. It sounds crazy but we look at how long she will sit and pay attention to something. Some of the other kids just want to get up and play after five minutes of every activity. She's also very ready to stop fights and make sure everyone is okay, she has a baby brother right?" she asked and Combeferre nodded.

The teacher asked again about any women in the home. Combeferre figured this was what it was all about - making sure she had a positive female role model. "Several." he said. "Two in the house, one in the house next door and...you." he shrugged.

"Father?" the teacher smiled.

"Well, me...I guess. "And another in our house and three more next door plus a psychologist who visits. "I don't think she had a very healthy example of what a parent relationship was." he said. "She's seeing it now, every kind of good relationship possible." he thought about Grantaire and Courfeyrac. The kids would grow up very liberal. If they would come out the other end feeling it was wrong it wouldn't be something taught in the house.

"Shes just so...beautiful." the teacher said.

"I know." Combeferre said. "Wish I could take some credit for that but she came to us in that adorable wrapping."

"Did you think of putting her in modeling?" the teacher asked.

"Absolutely not." Combeferre said.

"Oh, I don't mean pageant modeling." the teacher said. "Local stores put out flyers and they use local kids for them."

"Oh, I see. Well, still probably not." he said and continued the interview talking about Fleur's schoolwork.

The English kindergarten was crowded with parents. There were plenty in the French one, too but Combeferre had only one kid and the others had one apiece. There were two teachers so each took seven parents, mostly sets of parents.

"You're Nicolas' father?" the teacher asked Enjolras. "Oh that's right, foster." she said and spread his work out in front of Enjolras. "Well, I can't show you any other kid's work but I assure you, his writing is impeccable for his age." she commended and looked at Enjolras' pressed clothing. "And his reading is advanced, I'm going to give him a different set of books." she brought the grade 1 books out.

"Great..." Enjolras said in his head...proud of Nicolas but thinking "...that's just what he needs, to be different." but he smiled and looked at the work that would be expected and how much farther ahead it was from the kindergarten work.

"If he keeps going like this, I think he may be starting grade two next year."

"No." Enjolras said firmly. "Grade up books, extra work okay but please keep him with his own age. He has a hard enough time communicating as it is."

"But he's wonderful with Scott." the teacher said.

"Who is Scott?" Enjolras asked, smiling when he looked at Nico's 'favourite things' book and seeing a rough drawing of himself and Enjolras lying and reading.

"His friend." the teacher said as though Enjolras knew him. Not only had Nico never mentioned Scott but the other kids didn't. Or did they? Now he remembered shaming them for talking about 'Stupid." They hadn't given him a name. As a matter of fact, they didn't talk about him again at home once they got the 'if you can't say something nice...' talk.

"His...friend." Enjolras repeated. Had Nicolas talked about a friend? Maybe he had but they didn't think he was serious. He tried to remember if Nicolas ever said "we" when referring to school when he wasn't talking about the whole class.

"Scott's parents are both very busy, they just basically open the car door and boot him out. The first week he cried so loud we had to keep him out in the hall with an aide. The next week, his sister would bring him, throw his lunch kit in his cubby and run like hell before he knew she was gone." she laughed. "Nicolas finally got him to sit in his chair beside him then took his hand and showed him how to colour..." she said. "I don't think he 'likes' school..."

"Neither does Nico..." Enjolras sort of laughed.

"Yeah, I think they're both sort of 'misery and company'." she agreed. "And his habit of hurting himself..."

"...hurting himself?" Enjolras stopped her. "He hasn't a mark on him." he said "and I've...no doubt seen more of him than you have." he also though of Jehan, the psychologist who visited, why didn't he know?

"Not like cutting or scratching..." she assured him. Things like, he'll jam his fingers between two tables and hold them together, very well aware that he can pull them apart at any time. Sometimes pull his hair, very hard. Not hard enough to rip it out..." she continued and Enjolras was frantic scribbling mental notes for Jehan. "One time, one of our first crisp mornings, he refused to put his jacket on..."

"Hang on..." Enjolras said. "...Nico hates being cold. Are you sure nobody took his jacket from him?"

"No, it was right there on the fence, his sister tried to get him to put it on but he wouldn't. He was a block of ice when he came in."

"Can you...phone me next time something like that happens?" Enjolras wrote his cell number down. "Not at the end of the day but at the time?" if he couldn't make it to the school, he would see that someone would. The school work seemed to be so insignificant now. He could see that scholastically Nico was doing well, but Enjolras already knew that. What was wrong? "Thank you." he sighed. "I'll get our psychologist to work with him, find out why and get him to stop." he said and made note to send Nicolas to school in warmer clothes rather than layers.

He had a lot to think about when the interview was done. There was a coffee area and he went and sat at a table by himself. "How'd it go?" Combeferre sat with him.

"Nico is ... hurting himself." he said, still hardly believing it.

Combeferre was equally surprised. "It was bound to happen to one of them but you would think it would show."

"Classroom leader." the teacher said to Courfeyrac about Gavroche, then looked at Grantaire.

"We're...together." he looked straight into the teacher's eyes as if to ask "any problems?"

That makes sense then." the teacher showed his favourite things book, a picture of them lined up, holding hands, Gavroche holding Courfeyrac's hand, Courfeyrac holding Grantaire's and Grantaire holding Peep's. "His family." she said and Courfeyrac smiled and nodded then noticed the pictures of the dogs and the hot tub. "I'm sure it's no surprise that linguistically he's top of the class." she said.

"Loquacious as hell." Courfeyrac nodded. "He does stop, I assure you at home where the competition is stiffer."

"Well, he's an enjoyable guy in the classroom...all-boy isn't he? Every sport and activity...very protective of Minette." she said.

"What about with Nicolas?" Grantaire asked.

"Not really, I was going to ask if you knew why. Is he picked on at home?"

Grantaire and Courfeyrac shook their heads. Everyone got along at the house and on family outings. They hadn't heard the talk that Nico's teacher had with Enjolras, later on that night they'd pool their resources. "Is he nasty to Nico?"

"No, not at all, Gavroche couldn't be nasty if you gave him lessons..."

"Yes he can." Both Courfeyrac and Grantaire said at the same time. "Not overly...' Courfeyrac laughed "...but the same as other kids."

"It's more just like they're strangers. If it wasn't for Scott..." she explained about Nicolas' friend "...I would worry Nicolas was getting no social stimulation at school so I was a bit concerned he wasn't get much of it at home either. But, no, Gavroche is not mean. He and Minette just kind of ignore him." She looked at Eponine who came to join them.

"Minette reminds me of a little feather." the teacher smiled. "Fair and airy, everyone's friend...that's why I was a bit concerned about the deal with Nicolas. They're twins, right?"

Eponine looked at Minette's "favourite things" book, swimming, eating cake and playing on the swings with Fleur. She looked at her colouring and spelling and the stories she made up in pictures. "Ask her to read you that one, it's priceless." the teacher said and made a copy.

All in all the interviews went well and they all went for coffee elsewhere rather than the hot tub so the kids couldn't hear.

"What do you figure that's all about?" Courfeyrac asked. Was Nicolas' hurting himself connected to his being ignored by the other two? What was it that had Gavroche and Minette ignore him and not play with him at school yet they were comrades at home?

It was going to be too late to ask any kids anything when they got home and they really should have Jehan there but mostly they were happy with the way the interviews went. More than anything else, they wanted the house experiment to work without fail. They didn't want to hear "Yes, it's working BUT." They and the other satellite houses wanted to continue to build 'kid farms'.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N - heavy on the Gavroche/Minette this time..and Courf with a smattering of 'Ponine. Let me know who you'd like to hear about - I'm just wingin' it 'til Hallowe'en.**

The children were nestled all snug in their beds by the time everyone got home from the interviews. "George, you have GOT to leave Sylvie with someone else more often." Amy told him. She'd had her hands full with a hysterical 5 year old that she couldn't communicate with.

"She knows I'll be back." Grantaire said, opening a beer. "Didn't you tell her?"

"He-LLO..." Amy said and waved her hands around.

"He-LLO..." Grantaire said back, looking absolutely ridiculous as a childish office girl. "...YOU need to learn some more signs." he said but she was right about one thing. He did have to go away without her a bit more often. It wasn't so much that he left but who she was left with. She was fine with Mrs Grant and with Ramin and Danielle. Combeferre was touch and go, Enjolras was okay as long as he was in a playful mood but she wasn't so fond of Courfeyrac by himself. He was always supposed to be with Grantaire. Why wasn't he with Grantaire? Of course she loved Eponine.

"Hey Monkey." Grantaire whispered, going into Peep's room and finding her sleeping on the floor with her stuffed toys. "What are you doing down there?" She woke when he picked her up and clung to his neck while he carried her to bed. "YOU have got to stop screaming when I'm not here." he pushed away the hair that was stuck to her face with dried tears and snot. He went and got a wet cloth and cleaned her face off. "You know I'll always come back." he said. "What about red hair?" he asked when she kept saying that. "It's Amy, you know Amy."

"I don't like red hair." she said.

"Why?" he asked and she just slid down in the sheets and lay her head on the pillow, giving a little sigh. "Peep...what's wrong with red hair?" he asked her again and she shook her head. Another one for Jehan. "Someone with red hair hurt you?" he asked. "Before?"

"The door would open and the red hair would come in..." she said before he scooped her up in his arms again. He held her awhile, stroking her hair and kissing the side of her head before sitting her up to face him again.

"No." he said. "Things like that aren't going to happen anymore. They didn't do those things to you because they had red hair, they just happened to have red hair. Amy won't hurt you. She didn't hurt you tonight did she?" he asked. Well, there you go. She loves you." he said.

"As much as you?" she asked.

"Nah." he said. "Nobody loves you more than I do but almost." he said. He picked her back up and took her out to the living room so she could see everyone was home and give them goodnight kisses, including Amy. She was still wary but at least they knew her problem.

At Nico's request a few weeks back, Enjolras woke him up to say goodnight. It made sense to nobody but it wasn't a tall request. "Teacher says you're so smart and showed me your work." he said softly, smoothing back his hair. "And I liked your favourite things book." he smiled, wanting so badly to ask him about the other matters but he had to wait for Jehan, which would hopefully be just tomorrow. "You never told me about Scott." he said.

"Scott is my friend." Nicolas said.

"I know." Enjolras said. "Teacher said you help with him and even showed him how to colour and hold a pencil." he said.

"He cried like Peep does at first." Nico said. "I felt sad because ... I mean, it's just school. I could tell him about where I used to live. That would have scared him more."

"You've seen a lot, been through a lot, Nico." Enjolras smiled sadly. "If you move from here, you will not be going anywhere unsafe and no more fosters from here. If you go anywhere else, it'll be adopted. Real parents." he said.

"You ARE real parents." Nico said. "All you guys. Why do I have to go anywhere?" he asked.

"I said IF." Enjolras said. "IF I get to say, you won't be going anywhere but IF someone want to adopt the best set of twins in the world and they're going to be good to you then you'll get a real family." He didn't want to go in to too much detail of how the process worked and that it was a pretty safe bet that those kids would be there for a long time. Everyone wanted infants and those who didn't want infants were looking for ones who were in desperate need of relocation. The kids at the acreage WERE in that situation with Thenardiers but they weren't anymore, let alone anyone looking for a set of twins.

"We're not really a family?" Nico asked.

"Of course we are." Enjolras said and kissed his head again.

"So why would we need a different one?" he asked.

"Good NIGHT, Nicolas." Enjolras gave his best giggle to hide the sadness he felt about what he had heard. "Did you wash your hands and face?" he asked, using the excuse to study his fingers. "Looks like it." he said, not seeing bruises and kissed the tiny hand. "I will take care of you." he promised.

"What about the others?" Minette asked when Eponine and Courfeyrac took them to Arby's for lunch on the weekend.

"We're mixing it up." Courfeyrac said. "WE are taking you out, Grantaire and Enjolras are..." he faded off for a minute, knowing Grantaire, while being deathly in love with HIM still had stars in his eyes for Enjolras. "...taking Peep and Nicolas." he said.

"That way it's not all the same people all the time." Eponine said, as it tended to be her and Combeferre taking Minette and Fleur these days.

They ordered their food and sat at a booth. "We're both really happy about all the things the teachers said about you." Eponine said after they were finished eating. They knew by the end, the kids would feel a bit bad and didn't want to ruin their appetites. "She said great things about Nico, too."

"And Scott." Courfeyrac said, waiting for their reaction.

"Nice things about Scott?" Gavroche stifled a grin as Minette looked away.

"His friend, Scott." Courfeyrac said. "What's wrong with him?" he asked and Minette jokingly cried and rubbed her eyes. "Well?" his dark brown eyes darted from one kid to the next.

"Crybaby Scott." Minette said. "That's what everyone calls him because he bawled for the first two weeks he was there."

"Why do you think he was crying?" Eponine asked.

"He wanted his mommy." Gavroche pretended to cry. They both stopped, however when they saw that Courfeyrac and Eponine weren't remotely sharing the humour. Not at all. Sometimes when the kids were horsing around, the adults didn't join in but they enjoyed watching the kids having a good time...but this wasn't one of those times.

"So you're laughing because he was afraid?" Eponine asked..

"I don't think he was afraid, just a big baby." Gavroche tried to get them to see the humour.

"Did you ask?" Eponine asked them. "Did you ask 'Scott, why are you crying?' You could have made him feel better." They didn't want to go into the ramifications of teasing and bullying. It was too heavy to lay on them that some very young kids committed suicide because of it, but it had to be treated seriously.

"But he's really stupid, too. Didn't even know how to hold a crayon or colour yet." Minette said.

"Nobody taught him until Nico came along." Courfeyrac said. "Any of you kids could have done it but only Nicolas did." he looked at them,, waiting to see who broke the silence. "You're nice kids, you know how to be nice. I know that you know some parents aren't very nice..." he said. "...and how did that make you feel?" he asked when they nodded. He could see a tear in Minette's eye and Gavroche got nervously twitchy.

"We're just KIDDING." Gavroche tried to explain.

"Well, not everyone would find it funny, Gav." Courfeyrac said. "You know some kids, when they get really unhappy inside, they start to feel bad about themselves. Would you like to think you're responsible for that?" he asked and Minette shook her head.. "Gavroche?" he said when he noticed the boy was still looking away. He could see his bottom lip quivering though, perhaps he was a bit embarrassed. "What do you think?"

"It was just a game." Gavroche said, wiping the tears that came down. "Just having fun."

"I don't think Scott thought it was very funny. Eponine said. "What do you like to do at playtime or recess?"

"Sometimes cars, sometimes soccer outside." Gavroche said.

"Play kitchen or monkey bars." Minette said.

"Monkey bars?" Eponine said. "Have to put you in pants more often." she remembered boys looking up dresses.

"I don't twirl when I'm in a dress." Minette said. If it was all the same, she would wear a dress every day but on days they had phys ed she wore pants.

"What does Scott do?" Courfeyrac asked.

"Nico helps him write, they colour..." Gavroche said.

"And outside?" Courfeyrac said.

"Sit on the fence and talk." Gavroche said.

"What do you think Scott would do if you asked him to kick the soccer ball? Or play on the monkey bars?" Eponine asked.

"Or if you invited him to the Hallowe'en party?" Courfeyrac asked.

"Nico can vite him." Minette shrugged.

"How about you 'vite' him before Nico does?" Courfeyrac suggested. "Can you do that?" He reached and handed Gavroche a napkin for his nose. "We didn't want you to cry and feel bad, we just wanted to know that you understood how lonely Scott must be."

"How about we go look for pieces for Hallowe'en costumes?" Eponine suggested to announce that this was the end of the 'meeting'. Gavroche and Courfeyrac tidied up the table while the girls went to the bathroom.

"Did you get picked on when you were little?" Gavroche asked.

"A bit older, actually." Courfeyrac said as they headed out to the car.

"Because why?" Gavroche asked, climbing into the car as Courfeyrac helped him buckle up.

"Everyone gets picked on, Gav. But when it's a whole class of people it's hard to feel good about yourself."

"Did you feel bad about yourself?" Gavroche asked.

"For awhile." he said. As the girls climbed back into the car, Courfeyrac's mind wandered.

He remembered his teen years not only as he was discovering who he was but as his schoolmates were. How he fixed himself onto some guy, not very nice to him but he was all he had 'til he had the guts to face his parents, who surprised him...especially his father. It had been bad timing. There was a high society wedding and it happened to be the weekend that Courfeyrac called a halt to the relationship. Mr. Wonderful threatened that it would be at the wedding he would tell Courfeyrac's parents about their relationship, so it was a race to tell them first.

He went into his father's dressing room and sat on a chair and watched him get ready. It was actually funny to watch his parents move in circles they had no business being in. The reason the family was in high circles was because his father was a champion bullshitter. The doctorate he held was in something obscure and totally un-useable but it got him the title of "Dr." in honesty. The money he earned was honest money but the airs were totally unnecessary.

"Are you anywhere near getting ready?" the doctor asked his son, still in his school clothes.

"I don't think I'm going but I want to talk to you before you go."

"You have to go. I told you about sending a 'yes'' to an invitation then bowing out at the last minute."

"I didn't send the 'yes'." he shrugged but he could tell that wasn't going to fly too well. It may do so, however after he told him."I've been...seeing someone." he said, he could feel the trembling start. "...not anymore but Carl Augustun...we were...dating." he stammered. His father turned to look at him for a second and Courfeyrac was awed. When the Doctor turned his back, however, Courfeyrac jumped to his feet. ""Don't turn your back on me..." he cried.

"I'm just closing the door." the Doctor said and turned to face his son. "Just closing the door." He repeated. "Does your mother know?"

"No." Courfeyrac said.

"Thank God." he said.

"I thought you were more the one I would have to worry about." he said, though it wasn't too late for the lecturing to start, or maybe it would come tomorrow.

"I think it's time you start getting ready." he said. "I'll talk to your mother."

"But they're going to be at the wedding." Courfeyrac said. "I don't want to see him, but he said he was going to tell you tonight." he fell silent when his father pointed sternly to the door, telling him to get ready.

"Francis..." the doctor said as his son walked by him. He reached out his arm and pulled him towards him, giving him a kiss on the forehead. "I'm just not going to tell your mother it was an Augustun." he said.

Courfeyrac went back to his room and opened his closet. The expensive clothing was so pretentious but he was so stunned by his father's reaction that he didn't argue and took a suit out of the closet. He had the world's quickest shower, not wetting his hair then went back into his bedroom with just a towel on. Shortly after putting on underwear and trousers on, his father came into his room. "Francis?" he said.

"Yeah?" Courfeyrac turned to face him.

"No...stay there..." he turned him back around and looked at the bruising and marks on his back and the grab marks around his upper arm. "Do you know what your back looks like?" he asked, pulling him over to the mirror. Courfeyrac bit the inside of his cheek. Yes, he figured what it would look like but he didn't count on his parents seeing any of it. "This is what he did to you?"

"Yes but...just...it's over anyway, just..." he paused and turned back to look at his father. "I'm just surprised...I didn't think you would..." he shook his head. "You're the last person I expected to understand, even accept." he said, walking away from the mirror and putting deodorant on, then an undershirt. "I guess I should really say thank you." he smiled, his brown eyes glistening with tears. "I just need you to not make a scene tonight."

It would be hard for Dr. Courfeyrac to keep his mouth shut, knowing what Carl had done to his son, but for everyone's sake, he would. "I can't always tell you." he said to his son. "I'm not like your mother who can find the words but when I see this..." he pointed to Courfeyrac's back "...I get furious." he said. "I know you said you want to go into social work when you're finished school, I want you to protect people who go through this." he said. "And...the eye opener that it's not only wives, right?" he pointed out.

The wedding was probably 180degrees different than what Courfeyrac figured it would be like. As he wandered around visiting with people, he was able to shoot glances to Carl, as if to tell him 'yes, I'm still here'. Carl was waiting for the right moment to tell the Courfeyracs but every time he saw the Doctor, he was talking with someone else and every time he saw his former lover, HE was elsewhere. Finally, later that night, he saw Francis standing with his mother, scoping the room, seeing if there was someone else to talk to and Carl made his move. By then, champagne had put him in a very loose lipped mood.

Courfeyrac wasn't feeling any pain either. Underage, his parents didn't know about the sips and swallows he'd taken. It got him through everything, including the pain and soreness from where he'd been punched and kicked by Carl when he broke up with him.

"Mrs. Courfeyrac." Carl said. "You look beautiful." he started with, she'd like to hear that. Mrs Courfeyrac was a beautiful woman and loved being told so. "I just thought I'd let you know..." he slurred and looked at Francis, who stood there with both eyebrows raised and a smirk...Carl knew that he'd already told them.

"Oh, I know dear." Marcelle Courfeyrac said to Carl, taking Francis' upper arm, a bit too hard and he was ready to yelp, but kept quiet. "His father told me. It was a shock but all along I kept asking the same question..." she said. "...come back, you didn't hear the rest of it." she said as Carl walked away.

"What was your question, Mom?" Francis asked.

"WHY..." she playfully grabbed his ears, dragging his face to her as she kissed him. "WHY an Augustun?" she laughed. "Francis!" she said when she realised she could smell the booze on him. "Lay off that." She pointed to the empty glass on the table. "Are you going to lead your mother in a dance or what?"

Courfeyrac smiled as he drove along, snapping out of his memory and nodding at whatever Eponine said. "You guys wanna' see where I lived?" he asked and the kids gave an enthusiastic 'yes!' "Okay, after shopping." he said.

His parents knew what he did for a living. They also knew about Grantaire and, oddly enough approved. In spite of the drinking, which everyone wished would stop, they saw that he took good care of him. Having seen the other side, they knew what was more important. They also knew that if their son was miserable, he would get out of it. They also knew about the children and Marcelle in particular was impatient to meet them. Chances were, those were the only sniff of a grandchild she was ever going to get and nobody knew for how long? So it came as no surprise when Courfeyrac's car pulled up in front of the house and he pulled a little blond boy out of the back seat while the woman pulled a little girl out.

"Welcome." Marcelle said from the front door and waved them in.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N - Thank you for your feedback, folks. If you want anyone focused on, let me know. And, yes, by the way, I do still spell Hallowe'en the old fashioned way! Also, Canadian Thanksgiving is next weekend so I'm probably going to do a T'giving story. So it may sound like it's out of order from Hallowe'en, it's not.**

Enjolras and Grantaire took Nico, Fleur and Peep for their day out. They had talked about it at the house, get out in smaller groups, mix up the bunch, give each other days off - as they did today with Combeferre. They did a bit of shopping for costumes...Peep wasn't really understanding it all as they were slipping hats and headbands on her but one thing was obvious, she didn't like masks. They even showed her that it was them behind the mask, and no matter how silly the mask (clown vs goblin), she would run to Grantaire or Enjolras' arms. They would have to specify "no masks" in the party invitations. With her hair and big brown eyes, the best bet would be to dress her either as a lamb or a poodle. Give her fluffy pigtails that would look like ears, a black nose...that may be all they'll get out of her that year. Next year she may see that it's just harmless fun.

"Nettie!" Enjolras said, reaching out to pick through the wings. "She should be here to shop for wings." he texted Eponine. He had no idea where they were but he told her where there were tons in various colours and textures.

The kids chose to go see a movie as their activity. Of course it was going to be a movie that neither of the adults were interested in, plus Peep wouldn't be able to understand it. Maybe it would be best to wait for awhile before taking her into a movie at a theatre until she (and the others) were a bit more versed in sign. The museum had a fun set of kids' shows. One on the human body and one about the history of toys. Both had hands-on, characters, mini-movies and activities to keep them busy and running for a long time.

"Nico, what are you doing?" he asked when he saw the little boy pinch his finger in a toy vise on a play worktable. It wasn't heavy duty but it gave a pinch and he kept tightening the knob. "Don't do that..." he reached over and turned the knob the opposite way to release his finger. He wanted so badly to ask him why he was doing that but he needed to wait a few nights until Jehan had some time to come by the house. He looked at Nicolas' hand. He hadn't been in the vise long and it wasn't tight enough to do any damage, Enjolras absently kissed his hand and set him off to play on something else. He could hear Peep's squeals of laughter and amusement at some other place in the museum. She still had no idea how much noise she made. She was quite the spectacle in the science section though with her pending cochlear implant surgery but mostly what she wanted to see was the taxidermy animal displays. She pressed her face to the glass, her little palms making sticky candy prints.

"Aren't they cute?" Grantaire asked about the lion cubs. He felt a bit weird, wondering how the lions died. Hopefully they were totally synthetic. "That's what Nico is going to be for Hallowe'en."

"Whee?" Peep asked.

"You?" Grantaire asked, indicating a mask across the eyes and Peep shook her head. "How about a dog?" he asked, making the sign then holding her hair in pigtails, puffing the rest of it out and running his finger on her nose and drawing imaginary whiskers. It was too much for her too process but she liked him tickling her face. She threw her arms around his neck and giggled. He decided the best thing to do was pick that for a costume but just start making her up when everyone was getting ready on Hallowe'en night.

"Hey mom?" Enjolras said into the phone as they piled back into the car. "I have a couple of the kids here, can we visit?" he asked. His parents, like Courfeyrac's were anxious to meet the children. Also like Courfeyrac's parents, they were well off. Enjolras' father had been a bit disappointed when he stepped down from law full time to concentrate on childrens' services but he did recognise that it was still a very good occupation. It wasn't like he quit to sit in the basement and smoke pot. It took awhile to convince him that he WAS still in law, though, just a different branch. He knew that the senior Enjolras had a longing for them to have a father & son law firm.

"Of course!" Josette Enjolras said. "I can fix a bit of lunch for them, what do they like to eat?"

"Your cooking?" Enjolras said. "I'm sure whatever it is, you'll get them hooked on it." he said. He missed her cooking and when he worked late, he would stop at their place for supper.

They hadn't seen Grantaire for a few years - they hoped he had grown up a little and was not still party-hearty type. Josette watched him get the little girl out of her car seat and put her down on the sidewalk, motioning for her to go up to the house with the others while he locked the car.

"Hello!" Josette smiled and bent down to talk to Nicolas. "You're one of the twins?" she asked and he nodded, wondering how she knew that. He had no idea how much everyone talked to their parents about the kids. How else would they know how to do things like...rather than shaking them awake in the mornings, just open their bedroom door and turn the light on dim...they'd wake up on their own or that fifteen minutes of sitting up watching a boring talk show would put an "I-can't-sleep" child into a slumber. "Lucien!" she hollered for her husband to come greet their company.

Looking at the little boy, Lucien Enjolras just stared. He hadn't been close to his own son to watch him grow. He had been too busy, something he always regretted. In spite of the pretense of the Courfeyrac family, Lucien was always watching the doctor show his pride and support for his son, even in the wake of what everyone knew about him...and what Lucien suspected of his own son. Unlike the Courfeyrac's, Lucien's son would be best to hide it. His father wasn't quite as liberal. It wasn't anything Sylvain worried about because his father was on the wrong track anyway.

The little curly haired boy looked up with his blue eyes and smiled. "Hi." he said.

"Hello." Lucien said. "What's your name?"

"Nico." he said.

"NicoLAS?" The man said, disdainful of nicknames.

"Yes...yes sir.." Nico instinctively knew the man was not to be feared but respected. "But they call me Nico." he explained, maybe the man didn't know about nicknames. He would listen to hear what he called his son.

"I'm Fleur." the raven haired girl said, causing Lucien to raise his eyebrows. He didn't even GET a first name out of her, how could he correct her. "That's Peep." she pointed to the little girl Josette held in her arms.

"Is this was grandparents are like?" both Nico and Fleur wondered. "They meet you at the door and pick you up, kiss you and talk to you?" Even though Lucien was a bit stiff and hard to warm up to, he was still nice and...as his son told him, would have to get used to some nicknames, though they did give him grace on Peep's name. She usually was referred to as Sylvie, they used Peep when talking to her. Fleur, on the other hand was pretty much only called Daphne at school, sometimes a quick "Daf" at home but most of the time she was Fleur.

"Lunch is pretty much ready if you want to come through here." Josette said and they walked through the house and out the back door into the sunroom. One thing about the Enjolras household, it was massive and lush but there was a casual living space that welcomed things like walking in the house with your shoes on and having spaghetti and meatballs instead of fancy dishes. The only house staff was the cleaning lady and she came in twice a week. If there was a big function at the house, they would hire some kitchen help but otherwise, Josette loved doing her own cooking.

"Do you have a flower shop?" Fleur looked out the windows of the sunroom onto the garden. "There are so many!"

"No no." Josette laughed. "Lucien loves flower gardening, that's just his hobby space." she put a slice of homemade bread on Fleur's plate. "You can go out there after lunch if you're very mindful to stay on the path." she welcomed her, not sure if that would raise the hair on the back of Lucien's neck but he'd probably go out there with her. Josette chatted with the children as the two men talked business and bringing each other up to date on life in general. Lucien's eyes kept drifting back to Nicolas though. It was like a ghost. Something was saying 'do it right this time'. The times he was ready to correct everything from talking with his mouth full to reaching across Peep's plate in order to get something, he stopped. He listened to, smiled at and reacted to the nonsense the children were talking during lunch and his son just stared at him sometimes.

There had NEVER been talk allowed at the table in the Enjolras house. It got a bit more casual after he had moved out and only came over for occasional meals but that was mostly because that's all the time they had to talk before he had to go flying back out the door and go back to work. There would be occasional pangs of jealousy when Enjolras saw the liberty the children got at the table but mostly it was a feeling of satisfaction that the kids would, no doubt make a difference in his parents' lives and perhaps get his mother off of the pity wagon of not having grandkids.

"Look what we got!" Gavroche held up a bag when they got back to the house. His clothes and nails were filthy, they had done their best to scrub them after they had dug in the garden. Minette was carried, cradle style through the door by Courfeyrac. She was not only dirty, she had fallen in the mud so she was carried right down to the bathroom while Gavroche took the bag of carrots and potatoes up to the kitchen and put them on the table. "Grandma Marcelle said in the spring she can come out and help us plant a garden here." his voice squeaked with excitement. Amy took the bag from him and he went up to the bathroom for a good cleaning.

Courfeyrac and Enjolras nodded at each other. Enjolras knew that they had been at Courfeyrac's wonderful vegetable garden. Now that her son was out of the house, Marcelle called her vegetable garden her pride and joy and it was a fun competition between Lucien's flowers and Marcelle's vegetables, though they exchanged goods frequently. Both Enjolras and Courfeyrac obviously had the same idea that day and it proved successful. They would have the parents out to the home occasionally as well.

"Naturally, Mom ADORED Minette." Courfeyrac said, chatting with Enjolras as they washed the last of the dirt off of the vegetables and got them ready for cooking while Amy and Eponine cleaned the dirt off the kids and got them ready for even getting NEAR the table.

"Any light shed on those two?" Enjolras nodded in the direction of the kids.

"Yep." Courfeyrac said. "We'll have something to say to Nico later. How about you?"

"We didn't really go there. I want Jehan there, it's just so much bigger than just me." Enjolras said.

"Us." Courfeyrac reminded him. While they all focused on one kid, they were a family.

"Maybe with them not picking on Scott it might stop?" Courfeyrac took a guess at what had caused him to do it in the first place. "Like he wants to share the pain?"

"It's not always pain though..." Enjolras said, then noticed Nico outside on the swings without a jacket. It wasn't freezing but the sun was fading fast and it was October. "Nico, come in and get a jacket." Enjolras hollered through the sliding door. "I did catch him with his fingers in a plastic vise at the science museum though." he said. "It wasn't tight but it was as tight as he could turn it. Anyway, after supper we can get the three together and then over the next day or so we can see if the other thing changes." he sighed in exasperation a few minutes later when he looked and saw Nico still on the swings without a jacket. He reached into the closet and took out Nico's jacket then grabbed his jean jacket and shrugged it over his shoulders. He slid the door open and went down into the yard. "You not hear me?" he asked Nicolas.

"I heard." Nicolas said. "I just wanted to play out here 'til supper time."

"Nothing wrong with that." Enjolras said and sat on the swing next to him. "I just asked you to get your jacket on." he said and handed it to Nicolas. "Did you have a good day?" he asked and Nicolas nodded, pulling his arms through the sleeves and zipping the front closed. "My mom and dad sure loved meeting you." he smiled and reached out, toying with his hair. "Gav and Minette brought vegetables from Courfeyrac's garden so they're really fresh and very good. Nothing but love goes into them." he watched to see if there was any reaction to his siblings names. "Pretty soon it'll be ready, maybe we'll go in and wash up?" he said. "How's your hand when you squished it in the vise?" he asked and looked at his hand. There wasn't a mark on it.

"It's okay, it didn't hurt." Nicolas said, sliding off of the swing.

"What happened?" Enjolras asked. "How'd your fingers get in there?"

"I just wanted to know how tight it went before it hurt." Nico answered. It sounded very strange but Enjolras didn't want to push it any further and they were at the sliding door already anyway.

The kids jabbered and chattered about how they spent their day and it was agreed that next time they went out they would switch positions, though it better be fast because both gardens were at the mercy of mother nature. They had already had their baths so they could watch TV a bit longer. Not that Sunday night TV was the best but they managed to agree on something. The rule in the house was that they had to learn to share so they could only watch the one TV. If they begged hard enough they could watch a movie on one of the guys' laptops but it had to be a time that it wasn't being used. That was one of the reasons Enjolras and Nico watched movies a lot. Often they were nature shows and only an hour long and it was just as likely to be a bedtime story. They were lying on their backs on Enjolras bed as if they were cloud watching when Courfeyrac knocked on the half opened door and poked his head in. "Can we come in?" he asked and escorted Minette and Gavroche in, everyone piling on the bed. "Nettie and Gav have something to say." he said.

"We want Scott to come to the Hallowe'en party." Minette said. "Can you invite him?"

"He doesn't have a costume, he told me." Nico said. "I tried to invite him already."

"We could help him with one." Gavroche said Courfeyrac's eyebrows went up. He did NOT ask them to say that.

"I think that's a great idea, Gav." Courfeyrac said. "We still have to pick things up, we can take him with us." he nodded. Now that THAT was done, he kept his eyes on the two so they could get around to what they really needed to.

"We're...I'm sorry that we've been picking on Scott." Minette said, changing the "we" to "I" very quickly as there would be NO group apologies.

"Yeah." Gavroche nodded. "We...I'm sorry. It was nice of you to be his friend when we were so shitty to him." he said. Enjolras and Courfeyrac both fought to keep straight faces after that.

"That's okay." Nicolas said.

"Well...not 'okay' but we'll start again tomorrow, right?" Courfeyrac said "So you can show them you're sorry." he said and they nodded.

"You want to watch a movie before bed?" Enjolras asked them. Nobody knew that this was the envy of all the kids. Bedroom doors were never closed tight but they knew Nico and Enjolras were having quality time with books or movies and left them alone. Every one of them had special evening time. Courfeyrac and Gavroche played video games or basketball in the back yard, Minette and Eponine did crafts or lip synced to CDs and they all enjoyed but the quiet time Nico and Enjolras shared sounded...pleasant. To be able to lie in there and watch movies on Enjolras' laptop sounded like an honour.

He popped them some popcorn and Nico let Minette pick the movie then Enjolras and Courfeyrac left them alone to enjoy themselves. All that remained to be seen was if Nicolas would stop hurting himself.

"Well...that was ... easier than I thought it would be." Courfeyrac stretched and leaned his head back in the hot tub. "I mean, getting them to apologise and all that."

"Damn...we're good." Enjolras agreed.

**A/N...don't get cocky, guys!**


	15. Chapter 15

"Did you enjoy today?" Courfeyrac asked Gavroche as he tucked him in. You did really well with your apology. I know you meant it." he said, pulling the blankets around the yawning boy. The day had been busy and full of various emotions and he was exhausted.

"When you were little..." Gavroche asked "...and you came home from school was your mom there and making snacks for you?"

"Mmmhmm." Courfeyrac nodded. "She sure was."

"Someone said that's how it was sometime but I didn't believe them."

"It's not like that for everyone, Gav but it was for me. Not everyone was that lucky. Even some kids whose parents were good to them don't get that much spoiling." he smiled. He never thought of himself as having been spoiled but he knew he'd been very fortunate.

"What about Enjolras?" he asked.

"Now HIS mother is a good cook!" Courfeyrac said. "But I don't know if she made snacks." he said though he knew that their days were structured and there was a chance that there was nothing eaten between meals.

"Snacks are good." Gavroche said, lying down. "I like being not hungry."

"I like knowing you've had enough to eat." Courfeyrac said, giving his head a kiss.

Enjolras did the usual routine of waking Nico up to say goodnight. "Warm enough?" he asked and Nicolas nodded. "You hate being cold but you play outside with no coat on. I know not just here." he said, still leaving the hurting himself out of the conversation.

"I know." Nico said, almost asleep. "It's nice to be warm now." he said and had a big sigh as he dozed off.

"Is it an adoption day or just in court?" Nicolas asked the next morning as he saw Enjolras getting a suit and tie on instead of his more casual clothes when he was working children's services. He stood in front of the mirror with one of Enjolras' other ties, trying to copy and tie it around his neck.

"Both." Enjolras said, finishing his own tie then standing behind Nicolas to tie his up for him. "Sometimes adoptions take place in the court room.|

"Does the judge shout at people?" Nicolas asked, tightening the knot and admiring himself in the mirror, looking very comical with his Sponge Bob pyjama top.

"Not usually. You're thinking of TV. This is a happy thing. It's just me and the judge and the new parents." Enjolras tried to explain.

"What about the old parents? Are they there?" Nicolas asked.

"There have been times, yes." Enjolras brushed his hair again and selected the proper jacket. He didn't have a million suits but they weren't mix and match. "But not usually. By the time adoption day comes around, the old parents are well out of the scene."

"Like mine?" Nicolas asked, letting Enjolras take his good silk tie back, lest they forget and it make its way to the breakfast table.

"Do you remember them?" Enjolras asked and Nicolas shook his head. According to their history, the twins were two years old when they were taken from their initial parents and put in foster care. He wouldn't likely remember but some children remember very far back. He was just as glad when Nicolas shook his head. He read the reports from when they were first seized and it was pretty alarming the state they were in. Mostly neglect, as opposed to the Thenardier's that was physical abuse. "Okay, get your own clothes on." he said and took his tie back to the rack. "And get to the table so you can eat something."

Enjolras had to leave much earlier so he just grabbed a breakfast shake that Eponine made for him and waved a goodbye to everyone.

At school, Gavroche asked Scott to kick the ball with him. As predicted, Scott said no thank you but just being invited to made him feel better. Minette came over and invited him to go shopping for Hallowe'en costumes and that worked well, too. They still didn't spend a lot of time together but Gavroche and Minette really did make an honest attempt. Fleur only saw the other kids at recess because she was in a different class, so that made their group bigger and perhaps that's part of what made Scott a bit shy. All these kids were in one family while he just had one much older sibling and his parents.

Shortly after Enjolras was finished in court, his phone rang. "This is Nico's teacher You asked me to phone you if he started hurting himself again. We found him lowering his desk leg down onto his foot..." she explained.

"Okay...I'm coming out there." Enjolras said as he was half way out to his car. He got to the school and went to the councilor's room as the teacher went to the classroom to get Nicolas. Jehan had arrived a few minutes earlier so they both sat in there, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

When Nicolas came into the room, he hit the breaks and began backing out of the room. "No no no no..." he started saying and held his arms against the door jamb so that they couldn't force him in there.

"Nico." Enjolras said. "Come in here..." he waved and Nico shook his head, starting to cry, shaking his head, eventually starting to hyperventilate. The councilor looked at Enjolras for a moment...questioning. _"Oh God..." Enjolras said in his head. "...they think it's me...keep your temper, keep your cool, no impatience..." _he suddenly became aware of his body language and voice. Maybe he did come across too hard when Nicolas thought he was in trouble. He didn't think so but there was a lot of his father in him and he remembered being intimidated when he would be called to his father's den for a talk. "Nicolas, what is it?" he asked him. "Come see me." he held his arms out.

"You said it's adoption day." Nicolas cried. "You didn't say it was ME." he cried.

"Adoption day?" Enjolras repeated then realised what this would look like. "No, not you, Nico." he said. "That's finished, it was over by 10 o'clock, this is something else." he said.

"I don't want to leave home." Nicolas cried and the councilor loosened up but still tried to encourage Nicolas into the room.

"You're not leaving." Enjolras reached out to him and Nicolas ran into his arms. He was shaking, his heart was pounding. "Nico..." he said gently and wrapped his arms around him, stroking his sweating hair. "...if it was adoption day for you guys, I wouldn't tell you like this, it has nothing to do with this." he hugged him and held him on his lap, kissing his head until he settled down. "I got your teacher to call because we're a bit worried is all."

"Scotty is coming for Hallowe'en." the little boy said and Enjolras smiled. "Good, I'm glad. We're just a bit worried about you and I want an answer." he said. "Your teacher said that you're hurting yourself. Squishing your fingers in places and I saw it at the museum myself.

"When I was in the foster home..." Nicolas explained. The children had stopped referring to the home they were now in as "the foster home" "...and they would put me outside and it was so cold and dark, no matter how bad it was inside, it always felt so good when they let me in." he said and the adults were nodding, still trying to find what was seemingly such a simple explanation to a five year old. "I like the feeling of being outside in the cold but knowing any time I want I can go in to where it's warm. I don't have to sit out there."

"Is that the same as the hurting then?" Prouvaire asked "It's because any time you want, the hurting can stop?" Nicolas cocked his head for a second as if to say "Now you got it."

_"Control." _Enjolras said in his head. But not quite the same. The other guys would laugh when they found out that Nicolas was a control freak. They already called him "mini-me", here was another form of similarity. Nicolas knows how to control his pain. He knew that when he hurt or was cold, he could make it better. He knew when Scott was in pain, he could make that better, too. Maybe it wasn't so different after all.

Enjolras resented being an only child. Not just an only child but they only moved in closed circles. As a child he had all the toys and fancy things, but he rarely had friends over to play with them. Occasionally it was Courfeyracs but that was more when they were older. If it weren't for cousins, he might have not had playmates for months at a time. He HAD the control in his world. It made sense he would take the lead anywhere it was necessary. The difference was that he wouldn't wrestle it away from anyone who was in control. It made sense that, in spite of not knowing he was up to this challenge, he was excellent in his new role and it definitely made sense that the teacher's revelation at the interview frustrated the hell out of him. Control. "I get it now." Enjolras said. "But ... I don't like you hurting yourself or sitting out in the cold." he told him.

"You can remember the feeling of coming in from the cold or having the hurting stop without actually doing it." Prouvaire said. "Or just think about the good. Don't remember how cold you were, how much it hurt, think about how warm it is now, how it doesn't hurt now." he told him and Nicolas nodded.

"I guess so." He said.

"You better know so." Enjolras said, gently but firmly. "We're not going to stand for you hurting yourself." he was already thinking of some non-punishment punishments. It wouldn't help to make him uncomfortable or work him to the bones if he was caught but he may be spending some activity evenings sitting alone and watching them have fun. Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary. Enjolras could tell that Nico was still a bit shaken from misinterpreting what Enjolras was doing there in the first place. "You wanna come see what I do in court?" he asked. There would be no harm pulling Nicolas out of class for a day and he wanted to spend a bit of quality time with him. The days he was scheduled for court, his workload for CPS got shuffled onto someone else so it was more or less a half day off. "Let's get your coat." he said and made sure the teacher told Minette and Gavroche nothing was wrong with Nico, he just had to go somewhere with Enjolras.

"Okay, where we'll be, they won't be able to hear us but other people may be in there who will want to hear so you have to be quiet and when you get bored we'll leave." he said.

"I don't think I'll get bored." Nicolas said.

"I think you will." Enjolras smiled. Everyone expected it to be exciting and as brief as it was on TV. They pulled up to the courthouse and people looked at them walk in. Enjolras still in his suit and the little boy, people figured there would be an interesting case until they realised it was more or less a "take your kid to work" thing. Enjolras hushed Nico again when they went into the viewing room. There were only a few people in there and two of them had headphones on for translating.

"Who are they?" Nicolas whispered and Enjolras explained everyone. "Where do you usually sit?" he asked and Enjolras showed him. "Do you get to speak?"

"Not much." Enjolras said. "That's mostly those guys or if they need a witness. I'm just there to listen and give advice." He also explained that when it was just an adoption case there were even less people in there and it was very fast. "Boring huh?" he grinned when all of Nicolas' questions were answered.

"Would you adopt us?" Nicolas asked him on the way home.

"They wouldn't let us, Nico." he explained almost the same that Courfeyrac had to Gavroche but for the fact that HE was single, rather than Courfeyrac and Grantaire's situation.

"I was hoping you and Eponine could get married then Minette and I could stay together." Nicolas said.

"Eponine and I are just friend, Nico. You will always stay together, Nico. You're a package deal and if nobody is going to take you together, you can't go." he cursed the fact that the kids were small enough that they had to be in booster seats and in the back seat because he liked to have the kids right by him when they talked to him.

"Maybe Ponine and Yvan will get married and take us." he lamented.

"I thought you didn't want to be adopted." Enjolras smiled.

"Yeah but if it's them we'd still live here and nobody else could take us. Can George and Francis get married?" he asked.

"Yes, they can but I don't know that they would be awarded kids. Nico, don't worry about it okay?" Enjolras said but he knew that it would weigh heavily on Nicolas' mind always. Until he could see that the older these children got, the less likely it would be to find homes...and the fact that they weren't actively looking. Joseph was more the one they had to get moving on. "I would love to promise that you aren't going anywhere but the best I can do is say that unless that happens, you won't be bounced anywhere again. Is that good enough?"

When they pulled back in the yard, three kids and two dogs came to meet them with all of the questions of where they went and what they did. "I just had an earache and went to the clinic." Nico said what they had rehearsed in the car. If the others had thought about it, Combeferre could just as easily have checked his ear and even prescribed something but five year olds don't think like that.

**Thank you for continual feedback. As ever, let me know if there's anyone you want to hear more about.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Why are Nana and Gran out here so early?" Fleur asked when Josette and Marcelle pulled up in the yard, pulling pots and pans and everything out of the trunk as the guys ran out to help them bring things into the house. Fleur ran out to meet up with them. "Hi Gran!" she said, kissing Josette, "Nana!" she kissed Marcelle. "Why are you here so early?"

"Why don't you know this already?" Marcelle asked, going into the big house as Fleur padded along behind her. "And why are you running across here in your pyjamas?" she asked, noticing that Fleur had just pulled her jacket over her night clothes and thrown some sneakers on her feet. Fleur never really thought about it, she always did it. "This is Thanksgiving." she explained, putting pots and pans on the counter, bending down to pick Sylvie up. "Na-na." she said slowly and Peep felt her mouth. "Na-na." Marcelle said again and Sylvie quietly repeated it. "Very good." she kissed her forehead and put her down again.

"We have pots and pans, Nana." Fleur said.

"Cooks work best with their own." Marcelle said and Josette came down from upstairs, carrying Gavroche. "Didn't anyone know it's Thanksgiving?" she asked and the children sort of shrugged and nodded. They knew it was Thanksgiving but they had never celebrated it before. "You remember my garden?" Marcelle asked. "Well, what left of it is in the trunk of the car and the guys are going to bring it in here. We'll cook it up and eat it and give thanks that we've had a lot of food in our harvest." she said, jumping as Courfeyrac thumped a huge turkey on the counter and Grantaire brought a big ham on the other side of her. "And there's the other things we're going to eat." she said. "That's why we're out here so early, you have to start to cook them early, it takes awhile."

"Are Grampa and Poppa coming out?" Minette asked.

"Yes, they'll be out later, they didn't need to be here yet." Josette said. She dropped Lucien off with the Doctor and they would drive out later.

"I want to help." Fleur said, stabbing at the frozen ham and licking the ice off of her finger.

"You can help by getting out of the way." Marcelle said...how were they going to function with five children in the house? "I'll let you know when it's close to vegetable time and you can help with those." she said, bringing baking supplies and ingredients out of a box. "Maybe whip the cream." she considered when Fleur brought the topic up.

"Let's go." Enjolras said, handing out jackets. He and the others could see that the grandmothers could work better in an empty house so they decided to take the van into the city and keep the kids busy and out of the way. They got the kids buckled in, Enjolras took the wheel and Grantaire rode shotgun. Eponine got in the passenger's seat of Combeferre's car and Courfeyrac got in the back seat with Amy. Combeferre had no idea where they were going, just followed the van into the city.

"Oh Sylvain, seriously...the mall?" Eponine asked when they followed the van into the parking lot of a big mall. "On Thanksgiving weekend" she rolled her eyes but got out of the car with a smile. There was a method to his madness though. In the middle of the mall was a kids' playland so they could buy breakfast sandwiches and the kids could have a good romp. Eponine laughed at Peep's hair when she came out of the static ridden tube slide. "I think we should get their portrait done for the grandparents for Christmas." she said, taming all of the little girl's wild curls back into a ponytail.

"I like it." Grantaire nodded. "Do we have time?" he asked, taking a drink out of his water bottle.

"Not NOW, George." She said, sending Peep back on to play more. They looked at the paper to see if there were good movies playing but not only was there not much suitable, everyone had the same idea and it was packed. They managed to kill time, mostly by trying to keep track of one another and writing grocery lists as the cooks kept phoning with just "one more" thing could they please pick it up.

"Okay maybe take them out to the van." Enjolras said as he, Courfeyrac and Combeferre headed to follow the shopping list. "There's no sense in making them wait in line at the grocery store." he handed the keys to Eponine. She didn't want to leave Enjolras alone with Amy. It was obvious that Eponine and Combeferre were a couple now but Amy stood off when Eponine was there and nobody could figure that out. Grantaire and Eponine herded the kids out the doors while the others stayed to carry things out.

Peep made some sort of noise and pointed when she got to the van and the light rail transit went gliding along beside the parking lot, coming to a halt to let shoppers off. "Train, yes!" Grantaire said. "We'll come back and go for a ride some day." he said before they noticed that all the kids were looking longingly at it. "We're not really pressed for time though, are we?" he looked at Eponine who smiled and shook her head.

Fleur overheard them and gave a small gasp...hoping this meant what she thought it did. Grantaire shook his head but still, Fleur didn't know if this meant they were going to take a spin on the train or not. She had her mittened hands in her pockets and she crossed her fingers. "Let's go. We're close to the south end of the line, we can get on the train, ride to the end and back here before the guys even know we're gone." Eponine said. "C'mon..." she said to the kids and Grantaire had no choice but to follow. They got tickets for ninety minutes of travel and led the kids down into the station.

Fleur almost danced down the stairs, her beautiful smile radiating and reflecting in all of the people in the station. The family didn't make sense to everyone, it never did but everyone saw this joyful, beautiful little girl with jet black hair, almost long enough to braid. Even though it was just a light rail station, it might as well have been a Victorian age train station waiting for the Hogwarts Express. The children looked at the advertising posters and the vending machine before they climbed back up to the platform. Fleur was already at the top of the stairs up on the platform. "Fleur, wait up for us please." Eponine said. "Don't get on any trains!" she called up the stairs. That was the last thing they needed. They gave the kids a chance to look around until every square inch of every tile had been explored before they all headed upstairs to the platform.

"It says three minutes." Fleur pointed to the signboard for when the next train was due.

"Look..." Gavroche pointed and they looked across the parking lot at Combeferre, Amy, Courfeyrac and Enjolras as they got to the vehicles. They loaded the groceries into the trunk and into the van, looking around to see if they could see everyone else.

"Shhh-shh." Grantaire grinned, wanting to watch them look around puzzled as to where everyone went.

"George, the train'll be here in a moment, don't freak them out." Eponine said. "Say hi!"

Courfeyrac heard the little voices all shouting 'hi' and he looked around to try to figure out where they were coming from. "Oh no!" Enjolras laughed when he looked at the platform at all the little mittened hands waving to the four in the parking lot. He felt his phone vibrate and looked at the text from Eponine's phone. _Just going for a ride, go to McDonalds for coffee and wait. XX Nico_.

"WHAT?" Combeferre laughed, shading his eyes against the setting sun, seeing Fleur's mustard yellow tam balanced on her black hair and her little yellow mittens waving. He wagged his finger at them and Courfeyrac began waking over towards the station. He wasn't going to go in but they stood at the fence as the train got there and the doors opened. The children got on and got window seats, waving to the three waiting by the fence. "You'd think they were going on a week long voyage." he said as they kept waving until the train pulled out of the station. "I don't know about you, I don't need to go for a coffee." he said. They agreed they had been coffeed out and chose to just stand by the fence and talk. It was chilly but not too cold to stand around.

"Still would rather not be standing around here." she said timidly.

"You wanna wait in the van or the car?" Enjolras asked, realising he had given one set of keys to Eponine. He'd be just as glad to keep her from continually inching in his space.

"I'm okay as long as you're here...you guys." she added on.

Fleur settled in her seat and pressed her nose to the window, waving at Combeferre. She had been on a real train before and loved it until she found out she was being sent to a foster home after her mother died and her father didn't want her. It was only a couple of years ago but it was pretty much half of Fleur's life. She loved watching things go speeding by, it was not something you could get with a car. She knew that was a short ride and very downscaled from the trains but she liked the un-bumpiness of the train rather than the car that upset her tummy sometimes. Eponine smiled at her in her red coat with mustard accessories. She already looked like a little lady but she had the smile and mannerisms of the five year old that she was.

Gavroche and Nico took hold of the hand straps high up and swung from them. "Boys, you'll break them. They're just meant to be hung onto." Eponine said and Gavroche swung his feet in the air in defiance.

"Sit down!" Grantaire hollered and Eponine was glad they had the whole carriage to themselves. If anyone was going to raise his voice in ... not anger, just impatience, it would be Grantaire. Enjolras was, by far the least patient but he didn't shout. His discipline was in his 'look'. The boys still didn't sit down but they stopped swinging and settled for hanging onto the poles and trying to keep balance as the train started moving. Peep was on Grantaire's lap and started wriggling and giggling when they started moving. She stroked Grantaire's arm and pointed out the window at all the things she saw and Eponine named them as she repeated how she heard it. Mostly, she could hear the vowels. "Train" was "ray", "Hallowe'en was "awhee" but they were teaching consonant sounds.

They got to the end of the line and the kids were allowed to step off for a moment to see where they were. It had only been two stops, they could look up the tracks and pretty much see where they had started from. Minette wondered if the others were still by the fence watching for them. She felt bad that they had missed the train ride. Maybe they'd be sorry and have to go again. "Here comes the driver...get back on." Grantaire said.

"Are we in trouble?" Nicolas asked. "Why is he coming here?"

"Instead of turning the train around he just comes into this car..." Grantaire explained "...so this becomes the front...stop swinging!" He repeated as the boys began their monkey act again.

"Are you guys ready to go?" The driver asked and the boys took their seats. "We're here for a few more minutes."

"Do you want a cookie?" Minette offered the driver. "We went to the market..."

"Oh I love that place." The driver said. "No, I'm okay." He opened the door to go into the control cabin of the train.

"Is that where you go to the bathroom?" Gavroche asked, seeing him open the little door. Eponine couldn't help but snicker.

"No, it's where I drive the train." The driver said and Gavroche poked his head around."

"Let him do his job, Gav." Eponine said.

"We're not leaving for a minute, you want to see inside?" The driver asked and the boys nodded gingerly, approaching it like Bambi at the edge of the meadow. Eponine grabbed her phone and began taking pictures of everyone taking their turn peeking through the door of the cabin. "Okay, best take your seats now." The driver said.

"What do you say?" Grantaire asked them as Eponine texted the pictures to Courfeyrac, saying they were on their way back. The children thanked the driver and sat down as the train started moving back to the mall. They waved to the driver through the window then went back down into the station and out into the parking lot, running to Enjolras, Combeferre, Amy and Courfeyrac, telling them all about it as though it had been a week long trip.

That little bit of excitement was enough to render them a bit tired and quiet on the ride back out to the acreage. "Grampa and Poppa are here." They noticed, pulling into the yard just a second after the dads arrived. Pontmercys had arrived a bit before that and visited with Ramin and Danielle in the small house. "Hi Kerri!" they said, spilling out of the van to meet the little girl who had completed the nest from the home they were seized from. Along with her was a boy, Robert who had been acquired elsewhere.

"Is your dad here?" Enjolras asked Cosette, giving her a Happy Thanksgiving hug.

"Yeah, probably in trading 'we were so poor' stories with your dad." she surmised. The difference was that Lucien was never poor and Jean worked his way from the shithouse to the penthouse but that didn't stop them from rehashing the "good ole' days" The Doctor usually just stayed quiet, lest he spill the beans that they weren't as well off as they portrayed - though everyone sort of knew it anyway.

The kids flocked to the grandfathers when they got in the door though the smell of turkey and ham cooking may have stopped them in their tracks. "Smells great in here, Mom." Courfeyrac said, coming through the kitchen with the extra groceries they had picked up as the kids bounced around telling everyone about the train ride.

"Fleur, you were going to help me with the vegetables and it's almost time." Marcelle said. Fleur, Minette and Kerri went into the kitchen and climbed up on chairs to wash and chop vegetables, stir things and help clean up areas that needed it. "Boys, you need to wash up." she instructed. Gavroche and Nicolas went to get out of the clothes they spent the day in and Enjolras and Courfeyrac went to find something for them to wear.

"This makes me so happy." Nicolas said as Enjolras wiped his face and brushed his curls.

"Yeah, it's a good day." Enjolras agreed. "Okay..." he stopped. "I know when you get happy you think of how things used to be but I want you to keep from hurting yourself." he chatted. They had been working on it. "Remember what Jehan said? You can be happy about where you are and all this without hurting yourself right?" he reminded him. Nicolas said he remembered but Enjolras would be watching. "Okay, go out there and sit in the living room, stay clean...you're so neat and tidy you'll make me look bad if I don't clean up, too."

Enjolras took the world's quickest shower and changed into a pair of black cotton pants and navy blue golf shirt. The kids were dressed up a bit, he wouldn't feel right in his t-shirt and jeans. The others had the same idea. Courfeyrac cast aside his standard plaid flannel shirt and put on a brown cotton one, Grantaire always looked better at home than he did at work in a long sleeved t-shirt and jeans, shaven and combed. He'd already had a beer in him but still looked good. Eponine in a deep red gypsy blouse and jeans and Combeferre in a blue button neck up long sleeve t-shirt.

"Tea party?" Courfeyrac smiled when he went into the living room. How like his mother.

"You didn't have a real tea set out here." she said. For some reason, Courfeyrac knew his mother's china pattern and this wasn't it. She bought a set for the house. He knew that every time she came out there, the tea would be expected. Such a small favour for them to do for someone who accepted five instant grandchildren. All of the new grandparents took them very well. This whole deal couldn't have been better for anyone.

"Dinner is served." Josette said from the kitchen and started bringing plates of food to the kids' table to get them settled so the adults could sit at the proper one.

"Can I say grace?" Nicolas asked.

"Since when have you lot said grace?" Amy snickered, not remembering the grandparents...and the fact that she didn't normally eat in that house so she wouldn't know.

"All the time." Gavroche said. It was something Nico had requested and nobody could think of a reason why not.

"I think before we eat..." the senior Enjolras said "...everyone take a second to say what they're thankful for." he said but just about everyone had the same answer.


	17. Chapter 17

Was Grantaire ready for this? Three hours after he had gone to sleep/passed out, he was awoken by the sleepy, whined stirrings of Peep. It was nothing out of the ordinary, just go in, spread the blankets back over her, usually she was asleep again already, just settle her and go back to bed. "Oh God." he said when he got in the door and smelled vomit.

This had been a fear of all of the guys...how would they handle it if one of the kids gets pukey? Both of the surrogate grandmothers promised that the first was the worst and they'd be pros after that. Marcelle said that once you see how someone so small can need you, it never goes away, you need to help them. Josette had a different approach, she more or less told them to call her. She was a nurse before she met Lucien and basically never had to work again. But it was the middle of the night, he wasn't going to phone her...he just had to plug through it.

"Tsaih!" she cried and reached for him. There wasn't a lot of mess and he rolled the bedspread back and wadded it up, throwing it on the floor and picking her up. God his head hurt and his sinuses didn't need the whiff of regurgitated hot dogs but Marcelle had been right, Peep needed him and in spite of the fact that his stomach was in no better shape than hers was, he wanted nothing more than for her to feel better. He could feel she was a bit fevered when he kissed her head and took her to the bathroom for a cool sponge bath. She couldn't warn him verbally but he felt a little heave when he held her and sat her on the toilet with a basin on her lap. She was so little...how could such a little stomach have held that much? No wonder she was sick! Judging by the contents in the basin, she had eaten way too much.

But Marcelle had definitely been right, his head was pounding, his stomach was crazy but this little mega puking, ultra pooping thing was thoroughly miserable. She asked for water afterwards, he knew it wouldn't last long but it was what she wanted. He washed her up, put her back to bed with her basin and crawled back into bed.

"Sick?" Courfeyrac mumbled from the pillow beside him. "You okay?" he asked when Grantaire said yes.

"Not me, Sylvie." he said. An hour laster, they heard a bedroom door fly open and little feet running to the bathroom. "I gave her a basin..." he got up when he heard her sick again then came to the bedroom. "It's Gavroche this time." he told Courfeyrac, who groaned.

"I jynxed myself." he somewhat laughed. "I was just saying I'm glad it's not mine." he crawled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom while Grantaire checked in on a blissfully sleeping little girl. Hopefully it was one that, once it was out then it was good to just sleep off. "You didn't tell me there was poo too." Courfeyrac said and went back to Gavroche's room to get fresh pyjamas.

"It's obviously a stomach bug, they go together." Grantaire said and noticed Nicolas' bedroom light was on. He padded upstairs and pushed the door open. Nicolas had his head in Enjolras' lap, sleeping while Enjolras sat on the bed and read a book.

"He just doesn't feel well." Enjolras said.,

"Brace yourself." Grantaire warned and went and fetched a basin. "I suggest when the time comes, you sit him on the throne and hold this in front. It's like a rocket."

"Oh shit." Enjolras.

"Good choice of words." Grantaire said and went back downstairs. He figured he may as well check the basement and sure as hell Eponine was up with Minette. God what was going to happen when the adults came down with it? He looked across the yard to see if there were lights on in the small house. Yes and it was Fleur's room. It was an epidemic, right enough and he saw Combeferre's blonde hair coming up to the back door. Grantaire swung the door open before Combeferre got his key in the hole. "Welcome." he said. "Yes." he answered before Combeferre asked. "Want to come in and check?"

"Mostly worried about fevers." Combeferre said, kicking off the sandals he had stepped into on his way out of his own house, going downstairs where Eponine held a sleeping Minette. "Hi Sweetie."

"She's just lethargic." Eponine whispered, stroking Minette's hair, running the back of her hand down the little girl's cheek.

"She been sick yet? He asked, and for an answer Eponine showed him that she had nothing on under the blanket. The bedding was wadded up in the bathroom and Minette slept on a couple of towels on the couch.

"Not for awhile though, now she's just so hot." she whispered. "Nettie?" she asked, trying to wake her up.

"Minette?" Combeferre said, trying to wake her then he took his thermometer and stuck it in Minette's ear, telling Eponine that all of the kids had it. "Ew." he said, reading Minette's temperature. "Ew ew ew." he looked at the temperature again and felt her face.

"What about baby?" Eponine asked, knowing the bug cleaned a person out quickly and thoroughly. Combeferre shook his head. "Must've been at school." she said. Fleur was in a different class but they played together at recess plus the kids played together at home.

"We'll watch him anyway coz it obviously spreads." Combeferre said and went upstairs and checked the other kids. "I think we're going to have to take Minette to the hospital." he whispered to Enjolras after he took Nicolas' temperature then winced when he saw the little boy's eyes open. Boy did he feel like an idiot. "She's okay, just a bit too hot, they have a nice cool bed for her there." he said, skipping over the severe dehydration and the fact that she was the only one who hadn't stopped purging. "They'll take good care of her."

"I can take good care of her." Nico said.

"You do." Combeferre said. "And she'll still be a bit weak and that's when she'll need you because you'll feel better." he said and gave him a kiss to feel his temperature. He knew now that Nicolas wasn't going to sleep very well and felt bad that Enjolras was going to bear the brunt of that. "I'll take Fleur, too." he said, knowing that if the fever kicked Minette's ass then Fleur was definitely in danger. "If you want to take one down into the basement so that they don't keep each other awake because Eponine is going to come with me so there will be nobody down there."

"Thanks." Enjolras said quietly but he was just as content to keep Nico in his own bed. They had their own bathroom up there anyway.

"Okay..." Combeferre said. "...but I suggest you get him near a toilet any time now. It's already borrowed time."

Courfeyrac dozed off with his arm around Gavroche, resting his cheek against his soft yellow hair. The nausea had stopped and he was cleaned up but not resting well.

"Daddy you're squishing me..." a little voice said, waking Courfeyrac from a rather sound sleep, not really noticing the first word that Gavroche had said.

"Mmmmsorry." He mumbled and slid down so he wasn't leaning his full weight on Gavroche.

"You're squishing me, I can't breathe." He cried and that woke Courfeyrac up.

"I'm not even touching you." He said, feeling his forehead. "You're having a dream."

"My skin...it's pushing in on me." Gavroche cried, unable to explain any better the feeling of pressure on his bones. "There's a...dragon in me and he's breathing fire." He cried.

"It's just the fever, Gav." Courfeyrac smiled. "You want another bath?" He asked him but Gavroche protested when he tried to pick him up, insisting he was squishing him. "Okay." Courfeyrac said and went to get a basin of cool water and cloths. He wrung one out and lay it across his forehead. "Too heavy..." Gavroche whimpered.

"It's just a cloth, Gav." He unfolded it single layer. "Better?"

"A bit." He said but protested the other sponging Courfeyrac was doing. "Don't squeeze me." He cried, starting to pant.

"Gavroche?" Courfeyrac said.

"I'm hot inside..." he cried. "Can you wipe inside?" He asked, very delirious. "Thirsty."

"I'll get you some ice." Courfeyrac whispered, abandoning the bedbath if Gavroche couldn't feel it anyway and it hurt him, why do it?When he got the ice back, Gavroche began drinking from the cup. "There's no water, Sweetheart." He smiled. "Just ice, here..." he popped an ice chip in his mouth. "Better?" He asked. He wanted so badly to hold him but it hurt. He lay down beside him, gave him a very light kiss on the cheek and wiped a few tears from his eyes. He just wanted to make him feel better. He woke a few times to feed the sleeping child more ice without even waking him up, even got up a few times to peek in doorways and see how everyone else was doing. Peep had claimed his pillow next to Grantaire and he felt her forehead, popping a bit of ice in her mouth without waking her then pressing her head back down on Grantaire's shoulder. Grantaire had a very comfortable shoulder to sleep on Perhaps it was because once asleep/passed out, there was no stress or tension left in his body so his shoulder became very soft.

By the time he got back to Gavroche's room, the little boy sat on his bed, heavy in tears. "Hey, you're sitting up!" Courfeyrac smiled and went to sit beside him. He wanted to hug him but didn't want to hurt him. "Still hurting?" He asked and put a couple of fingers very lightly on his forehead.

"No." Gavroche cried and Courfeyrac reached him a Kleenex for his nose. Gavroche wiped his nose and crawled to Courfeyrac's lap. Courfeyrac pulled a blanket over him and held him, rocking him and kissing his forehead.

"Fire breathing dragon gone?" He asked and Gavroche nodded. "Not being squished anymore?" He asked.

"Daddy used to squish me." Gavroche cried.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"He used to hold me down and sq+uish me." He showed him with a pillow, putting his hands on it and bearing all of his weight down, flattening it to the bed. "It hurt and I couldn't breathe then I couldn't see and went to sleep for awhile, felt funny..." he rubbed his hands together in remembering his limbs tingling from oxygen deprivation. Courfeyrac was furiously scribbling mental notes to add to the pages upon pages of their report, ready for when this went to court as the Thenardiers were still asking for their kids back.

"Oh Gavroche, I'm so sorry." Courfeyrac said softly, wringing out a washcloth and washing his face with it. "What they did to you all was so mean and they'll never see you again." He promised, There was no judge in the world who would award them back.

"I want us to stay with you." Gavroche cried, burying his face in Courfeyrac's chest.

"That I can't guarantee but I'd like it too." He said. "Shhhh..." he hushed him and held him until he fell asleep again.

Courfeyrac woke with a stiff shoulder from balancing on Gavroche's bed and a bit chilly from having no covers so he gently slid his arm out from under Gavroche's head, letting the child's head fall lightly on the pillow. He put a cool cloth on his forehead and looked in Peep's room, Grantaire had taken her back there and she rested. She opened her eyes for a sec, Courfeyrac waved and she waved back then closed her eyes again. He went to the bathroom then went to the more comfortable sleep of his own bed.

"Seems to have passed." He yawned as he got into bed and Grantaire rolled over to face him. Hopefully, the fact that most were up all night meant they were going to sleep in a bit. "At least they won't be busting in here at 7." He said

"Hey, that's right." Grantaire smiled and reached, kissing his lips gently. "AND...this weekend is our weekend off." He pointed out. Since the kids arrived, it was their only hope of privacy, save for a couple of times they both woke up in the middle of the night. Otherwise they were both so tired at the end of the day, sleep was what they most wanted. Getting away for two days was golden for them. "Two days in the mountains sound good?" Grantaire offered.

"Hey, that's right, too." Courfeyrac smiled. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Syl...your mother is on the phone." Eponine said, tapping on his bedroom door. She and Combeferre were tired but both of the girls were home and resting. Everyone was home and resting. Enjolras had been fighting the gross feeling in his stomach and digestive tract. He knew if he stood up, all hell would break loose but she was on the house phone, not his cell.

"Tell her I'll call her back." He said, his arm over his eyes.

"You okay?" She asked and he shook his head. "You got it now?"

"Think so." He nodded, even that little movement made him feel like he was on rough seas.

"Want a basin?" She asked.

"No because, all going according to plan, that's only half the problem."

"Okay...you want me to keep everyone out of the road?" She laughed. "I'll go talk to your mom." She left him to take care of his own timing in getting from the bed to the bathroom with as little incident as possible. "Hi Josette..." she said. "We had this funky stomach bug all night, well the kids did but being a family that shares, they gave it to Syl."

"Oh dear." She said, ever the nurse. "Are the kids okay?"

"They're all asleep and I don't think they've been sick in awhile. "Minette and Fleur were in the hospital..." Eponine reported, asking herself how she felt...she felt okay. "Now I think the big kids are getting it." she said as Courfeyrac flew by her to go downstairs, obviously Grantaire was in their bathroom.

"I'll come out there." Josette said.

"I don't know if that's in your best interest." Eponine said, though because she and Combeferre had spent the night away from the house and weren't sick it seemed it passed from the kids to the adults sometime there. On the other hand, it could have been from taking care of them...on the other hand, it seemed, with the exception of Minette, once the body was purged, it was just fever and whiny. On the other hand...these were men and probably going to be the same way.

"Nothing I can't handle." She said and said she'd be out shortly. "Someone'll need to help you with the kids."

Eponine straightened out the covers on her bed and went over to the couch where Courfeyrac was lying. "You done?" She asked him, messing his hair even more than usual to get cool air through it.

"I don't think so." He said as she popped a piece of ice in his mouth.

"Okay, I'm going to put Nettie in with Nicolas and you get into my bed when you're done, we won't come down here." she said and left a basin beside him then called Combeferre. "The guys have it now." She told him.

"Here, too." He said. Fleur was resting and he was looking after the baby while Ramin, Danielle and Amy stayed in bed in agony. "I'm going to come over for a second though just to take temperatures and see where they're at."

"Josette is coming too." Eponine said, feeling better that she wouldn't be the only un-sick one in the house.

Courfeyrac resented the interruption in his fitful sleep when Combeferre shoved the thermometer in his ear. He pushed the hand with the thermometer away until he realised who it was and what he was doing. "You running on empty now?" Combeferre asked Courfeyrac. "Been awhile since you were sick?"

"I think so, don't know what time it is." Courfeyrac mumbled and rolled into the pillow, just wanting to be left alone. The next time he was being fed ice and felt a cool cloth on his head, he was ready to tell whoever it was to leave him in his misery until he opened his eyes. "They didn't need to call you out here." He said to his mother, but having the patience now for a bedbath.

"Looking after the kids, big and small." She smiled. "They're fine." She answered about the kids. "Starting to eat a bit, Gavroche wants to come in and take care of you, I just wanted to make sure your stomach is settled." She said and he slowly nodded, dozing off again. Gavroche came in and pressed a cool cloth to his face and forehead but he didn't feel it. He took the ice just out of reflex but at least it let Gavroche felt like he was returning the favour.

The bruise on Minette's arm from the IV was topic for conversation as the children ate their dry toast and tea and Marcelle made little beds all around the living room so they could talk when they wanted and rest when they wanted.

"You are one degree away from going for a ride to the city." Combeferre warned Enjolras, taking his temperature again as his mother took a breather. She was glad Marcelle had come out with her to see to the others. Josette had been with her son most of the time, feeling his temperature rise, trying to make sense of the jibberish he was saying and sponging him down. If she hadn't been a nurse, she would be a bit concerned but, being as she had been a nurse, she knew what a high temperature was and how bad it could turn so she was a lot more concerned. "Any time you want, we can take him to the city." Combeferre said when he came out of the bedroom and Josette finished up her lunch.

"No." Nicolas said, overhearing. First Minette, now Enjolras? "Can I go see him? I won't wake him up." he promised.

"You probably wouldn't be able to anyway." Combeferre said and both he and Josette had no problem with him going in there.

"Can I touch him?" he asked when he went in to see his big brother sleeping, mumbling and his cheeks vibrant pink.

"Of course." Josette said and lifted him up onto the bed and he felt his forehead. "You want to do this?" she asked and handed him a cool cloth. "Do that and I'll get him some ice." she said, reaching behind her for the cup of ice. As soon as he felt the ice on his lips, Enjolras opened his mouth. It felt so good, he was so hot, he couldn't tell them how miserable he felt. Any time he opened his mouth, he broke into gibberish, it was so annoying. He knew Nicolas was beside him and reached his hand out. Nicolas took his hand, even that was super hot. He wrung out the cloth and put the cool cloth in Enjolras' hand. Josette was happy to see his hand close around the cloth but she saw his teeth clench and his toes start to curl in. "Nico, maybe let him sleep now, he needs that to get better." she said. She knew a seizure was coming and Nico didn't need to see it. "Can you have Yvan come in here?" she asked.

"Has this happened before?" Combeferre asked as Josette wiped the saliva from around his mouth, shaking her head. "His fever is coming down though." he said, feeling his face and putting the thermometer in his ear. "Yes it is...maybe that's what caused it?" he could only guess when another started up.

"Enj..." he said. Patting his face.

"Sylvain?" Josette said, taking his hand and shaking it until it relaxed and he gave a small whimper.

"Mom?" He asked, hearing her voice more than anything. "What are you doing here?" He asked, weakly.

"Everyone wants their mom when they're sick." She said softly and smiled into his blue eyes he had inherited from his father. Usually calm and unflappable, they sparkled now with fever. She popped a piece of ice in his mouth.

"Nico?" He asked.

"He's okay, he's up and about. He was in to see you. If you stop having seizures you can have him back, he didn't need to see that after the worry with Minette...yes she's home, too.." she said before he asked. "She was probably the same as you, sickest of the lot but you're stronger."

"Hurts." He said.

"What hurts, sweetie?" She asked. Even unbreakable Enjolras was someone's sweetie if only his mother's.

"Everything." He said. "My skin...even my lungs, feels like I could breathe fire." Josette had no idea about Gavroche the night before saying the same thing. "Can Nico come back?" He asked.

"Maybe another half hour, it'll be rest time for the kids and we'll be sure you won't seize and scare the hell out of him." She said and stroked his face.

In between helping Marcelle with the kids, Eponine had slept a bit in Minette's bed. She was worried for Enjolras, glad his mother was there, glad Courfeyrac's mother was there. They had no hope of getting Grantaire's mother so she and Combeferre made sure he wasn't forgotten. They brought him news of Courfeyrac downstairs. Combeferre held him as he went through the added insult of withdrawal. As with all the kids, Sylvie went in to see him during a restful period and fed him some ice, cooled his forehead and held his hand for awhile.

"How ya doin'?" Eponine asked, checking up on him. "He's okay, he's downstairs." She reminded him when he asked about Courfeyrac.

"My back is killing me." He mumbled.

"Roll on your side." Eponine said. "Ew, you're sweaty..." she said as the sheets stuck to him. "I'll get Yvan to give you a bath. Marcelle is here, too." She said. He shook his head, he didn't need her. They weren't tense or anything but...

"It's just like a lot of people, figure Francis could do so much better." He said as she started rubbing the stiffness out of his back.

"She's worried, George." Eponine told him. "She's been to see you." She told him but kept secret the part where she had said "I don't really understand it but we're glad he's treating Francis well." Eponine changed his bed to fresh sheets while Combeferre helped him wash the break of fever from him in the tub. He had come through it well, now just needed sleep...and a back rub.

"How is he?" Marcelle whispered, poking her head in the door.

"He just fell back to sleep, his fever broke, just a sore back from lying so long." She said, finishing up his backrub, pulling the blankets up around him as Marcelle went to the bed, felt his forehead then rested the back of her hand on his cheek for a moment, sitting in the chair by the bed as though she was going to talk to him but he was asleep. Eponine took the opportunity to leave the room. Marcelle kept wiping the last of the fever off of his forehead and feeding him ice. She grabbed a book off of the nightstand and read for awhile as he slept. When he started to stir and wake up, she put the book aside.

"Hello." she smiled at him. "Are you ready for a little bit of tea?" she asked him gently.

"Sure." Grantaire whispered. "Is Francis okay?" he asked her.

"He's a bit behind you." she said. "Still really sleepy but said he's sorry that you won't be able to do anything on your weekend off." she said. There was an ongoing pot of tea in the kitchen and she went and got him a cup of it. She put it in a travel mug so he didn't spill it all over himself. While she was getting the drink, he sat up and leaned back against the headboard.

"Thank you." he said when she handed him the tea.

"I'm just wondering..." she said, mostly wondering if he wanted her there at all. "...why you didn't come out to the house with Francis when he brought the kids out."

"Coz I was with Syl." he shrugged. "Maybe if I'd gone to your place, Josette would be asking me the same thing." he said, eyes looking straight forward. "I just figure...well, I know the Doctor doesn't think too highly of me, I don't know that my name is too popular around there."

"Oh...George..." she shook her head. "...you are so wrong." she didn't realise he had felt that way. First she thought he was shy, then she figured he was just hiding. "Is that what you think?" she asked. "No..." she said. She wanted to hug him, she wanted to hold him, she knew he had no family to speak of. "...maybe you've been away from family for so long, you don't know." she said.

"Know what?" he asked, finishing the tea and putting the cup on the night table, sliding back down so his head touched the pillow.

"There's a little girl out there..." she pointed towards the living room. "...she just came into your life not long ago and I'm willing to bet there is nothing you wouldn't do for her." she said and he nodded. "You take care of broken people, George. You remember Francis when you first met? He'd been so bullied...WE barely recognised him." she pointed out. "And yeah, we wondered just what the hell he was doing. Mistakenly, we figured he was going out of the frying pan into the fire. Maybe we forgot to tell you that we realised how wrong we were." she smiled and smoothed his hair back from his eyes. "But with your little girl, you know now that someone can come into your life and in a moment become very important. You ache when they ache, you love them so much it hurts and you just want to take their pain away..." she said and he nodded, closing his eyes and dozing off again.

"...and you know what the best part is?" she said when she was back down with her son in the coolness of the basement.

"...it never goes away." Josette said to her son, kissing the side of his head, liking that it was much cooler than it had been all day.


End file.
